E  SSAYS 


SOME  OP  THE  DIFFICULTIES 


WRITINGS  OF  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL, 


OTHER  PARTS  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


y 


BY 


RICHARD  WHATELY,  D.D., 

ARCHBISHOP  OF  DUBLIN. 

iv  015  icTi  SvffvSrjTd  riva,  &  ol  aixa^€7s  Koi  affr-f^piKTOi  ffTpc^Xovai. 

2  PETEB  iii.  16. 

FROM  THE  EIGHTH  LONDON  EDITION. 


§.nb0kr: 


WARREN  F.  DRAPER. 

BOSTON :  GOULD  &  LINCOLN.    NEW  YORK :  HURD  &  HOUGHTON. 

PHILADELPHIA:   SMITH,  ENGLISH,   AND  COMPANT. 
CINCINNATI:  G.   S.  BLANCHABD. 

1865. 


THESE   ESSAYS 

Are  published  with  the  sanction  of  the  late  Archbishop  Whately,  They 
are  reprinted  from  copies  furnished  to  the  American  Publisher  by  the 
Author,  and  contain  his  latest  revisions. 

The  Essays  on  "  Some  of  the  Peculiarities  of  the  Christian  Religion  " 
will  follow  in  the  same  style. 


ATTOOVER  : 

STEREOTYPED  AND  PRINTED 

BY  W.   F.  DRAPER. 


/\>^  — * — 

^  APR  3  mt 

\  — • — 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Connection  of  the  former  series  of  Essays  with  the  present,  9;  the  Scrip- 
tures not  to  be  regarded  with  dread  or  disgust  on  account  of  the 
difficulties  to  be  found  in  them,  10;  outline  of  the  present  Series  .    13 

Approbation  of  any  argument  no  test  of  its  real  effect 16 

ESSAY  I. 

ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH. 

^  I.  —  Christian  religion  distinguished  from  Paganism,  and  characterized 
by  its  claims  to  truth  as  established  by  evidence,  and  its  demand  of 
faith  in  that  truth 19 

h  II.  —  Liability  of  Christians  to  act  inconsistently  with  this  characteristic, 
by  not  steadily  followmg  truth 2G 

h  III.  —  Necessity  of  self-examination  as  to  this  point,  28 ;  objections  to 
the  principle  of  universally  pursuing  and  propagating  truth     .    .    29 

S  IV.  —  Danger  of  men's  flattering  themselves  without  sufficient  grounds 
that  they  are  lovers  of  truth ;  maxim  of  making  it  not  the  second 
but  the  first  question,  "What  is  the  truth?  37;  obstacles  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  this  habit,  —  dislike  of  doubt,  38;  love  of  originality,  40;  exces- 
sive deference  for  authority,  40;  views  of  expediency 49 

^  V.  —  Cautionary  maxims :  no  unfair  argument  to  be  used,  49 ;  nor  erro- 
neous notion  countenanced,  50;  no  dread  to  be  entertained  of  the 
progress  of  science,  54 ;  human  approbation  not  often  bestowed  on 
the  lover  of  truth 56 

Note  A.    On  Christ's  disclaimer  of  a  temporal  kingdom    .    .    57 

ESSAY  11. 

ON  THE  DIFFICULTIES   AND  TUE  VALUE  OF   PAUL'S   "WEITINGS 
GENERALLY. 

§  I.  —  Paul  more  exposed  than  any  of  the  apostles  to  the  attacks  both  of 


4  CONTENTS. 

open  enemies  and  false  friends, — both  personally,  59,  and  in  his 
writings 62 

§  II.  —  Ambiguity  of  the  word  Gospel,  63 ;  full  instruction  in  the  Christian 
scheme  not  to  be  found  in  the  four  evangelists,  64 ;  but  in  the  apos- 
tolic epistles,  71 ;  especially  Paul's,  71 ;  danger  of  misinterpretation 
not  to  deter  us  from  the  study  of  them 73 

§  III.  —  Study  of  Paul's  writings  not  to  be  deferred  till  a  mass  of  theolog- 
ical learning  has  been  acquired  from  other  sources 75 

§  IV.  —  Paul's  writings  dreaded  chiefly  from  the  unacceptableness  of 
some  of  his  doctrines,  79;  the  vehemence  with  which  his  works  have 
been  decried  a  proof  of  their  importance 79 

ESSAY  III. 

ON  ELECTION. 

Importance  of  explaining  those  parts  of  Scripture,  especially,  from 
which  dangerous  consequences  have  been  drawn 83 

§  I.  —  In  order  to  understand  the  Apostle  Paul  aright,  we  should  be  ac- 
quainted with  his  character  and  situation,  84 ;  and  with  that  of  his 
hearers,  86;  his  continual  reference  to  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  87 ; 
which  was  the  shadow  of  the  gospel 87 

§  II.  —  Disputes  relative  to  election 90 

§  III.  —  Questions,  whether  under  the  former  dispensation  election  was 
arbitrary  93;  who  were  elected,  94;  to  wlxat  the  elect  were  chosen,  94; 
application,  by  analogy,  to  the  gospel  scheme,  96;  confirmed  by 
Paul's  express  authority,  97;  and  by  the  analogy  of  God's  general 
providence,  100 ;  no  technical  uniformity  of  language  to  be  looked  for 
in  Scripture,  101 ;  misinterpretations  of  Scripture  produced  by  ante- 
cedent bias,  102;  errors  in  reasoning  committed  on  both  sides    .    105 

§  IV.  —  Metaphysical  ditficulties  resulting  from  ambiguities  of  language, 
106;  objections  connected  with  the  origin  of  evil  dangerous  for  both 
parties 109 

§  V.  —  The  chief  object  of  inquiry  to  be,  what  truths  are  revealed,  as 
being  relative  to  man,  and  practically  needful Ill 

§  VI.  —  The  danger  of  misleading  some  and  disgusting  others  not  to  be 
wantonly  incurred 120 

Note  A.    Augustine's  and  Calvin's  theory 122 

Note  B.    On  the  17th  Article 125 


CONTENTS.  5 

ESSAY  IV. 

ON  PERSEVERANCE  AND  ASSURANCE. 

H-  —  The  same  apostle  principally  appealed  to  in  support  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  final  perseverance  of  the  elect,  and  then:  full  assurance 
of  salvation 127 

§  n.  —  Apprehended  danger  from  these  doctrines  apt  to  lead  to  an  oppo- 
site danger 129 

§  III.  —  Mode  in  which  both  dangers  are  to  be  avoided 132 

§  IV.  —  Confirmation  of  the  view  here  taken,  from  the  example  of  Paul's 

conduct,  133 ;  and  from  that  of  men  in  general 135 

Note  A.  On  an  imperfection  of  the  English  language,  which  may 
sometimes  lead  to  a  mistake  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  sacred 
writers 140 

ESSAY  V. 

ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  MOSAIC  LAW. 

4  I.  — The  Antinomian  system  supposed  to  be  favored  by  Paul's  declara- 
tion relative  to  the  abolition  of  the  law 143 

§  II-  —  Obligation  of  conscience  not  weakened  by  the  Christian's  freedom 
from  the  Levitical  law 145 

§  III-  —  Importance  of  resting  moral  obligation  on  a  right  basis    .     .    148 
§  IV.  —  Speculative,  less  common  than  practical  Antinomians,  149 ;  lia- 
bility of  men  to  content  themselves  with  a  literal  observance  of  ex- 
press commands 151 

§  V.  —  Principles  substituted  for  rules,  under  the  gospel  dispensation  152 
Tendency  to  prefer  precise  injunctions  to  watchful  self-government  153 
Note  A.    On  Paul's  reasons  for  continuing  to  observe  the  ceremo- 
nial law 15Q 

Note  B.    On  the  Jewish  Sabbath  and  the  Christian  Lord's  Day  157 

ESSAY  VI. 

ON  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

H-  —  Statement  of  the  doctrine  of  the  imputation  of  Adam's  transgres- 
sion, and  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ 167 

§  II.  —  Scripture  authority  on  which  it  is  made  to  rest,  172;  interpretation 

of  the  passage  appealed  to 172 

1* 


6  CONTENTS. 

§  III.  —  General  drift  of  the  Apostle  in  the  passages  which  treat  of  the 
subject 176 

§  IV.  —  Liability  of  men  to  be  biassed  by  the  love  of  system,  180;  no  ac- 
curate and  technical  uniformity  in  the  employment  by  the  sacred 
writers  of  the  word  Justification 181 

§  V.  —  Evils  indirectly  resulting  from  erroneous  interpretation  of  Scrip- 

tm*e 183 

Note  A.    On  the  tendency  toward  unconscious  Arianism     .    .    190 

ESSAY  VII. 

ON  APPARENT  CONTEADICTIONS  IN  SCRIPTURE. 

§  I.  —  Difficulties  of  Scripture  a  reason  for  the  attentive  study  of  it  .    193 

§  II.  —  Principles  to  be  kept  in  mind  in  this  study 195 

§  III.  —  The  knowledge  revealed,  not  speculative,  but  relative  to  man,  and 
practical,  198;  in  language  not  scientific,  but  popular,  199;  to  be  in- 
terpreted by  comparing  one  passage  with  another,  199 ;  especially 

those  seemingly  at  variance 200 

§  IV.  —  Apparent  contradictions  of  Scripture  numerous,  201 ;   for  what 

purpose  designed 203 

§  V.  —  The  knowledge  imparted  of  mysterious  truths  analogical  and  in- 
distinct    206 

Note  A.    On  the  Scripture  use  of  the  word  Mystery  ....    211 

ESSAY  vni. 

ON  THE  MODE  OF  CONVEYING  MORAL  PRECEPTS  IN  THE  NEW 
TESTAMENT. 

Moral  precepts  of  the  New  Testament  often  conveyed  in  apparent 

contradictions 213 

§  I.  — Reasons  for  the  employment  of  this  and  other  paradoxical  form  215 
§  II.  —  Precepts,  a  literal  compliance  with  which  would  be  either  impossi- 
ble, or  absm-d,  or  unimportant,  218;  instance  of  the  last  kind      .    224 
§  III.  —  The  mode  of  instruction  adopted  sufllcient  for  the  candid  and  dil- 
igent, 225;  for  the  opposite  character  none  would  have  been  suffi- 
cient   226 

ESSAY  IX. 

ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 

Indistinct  notions  entertained,  at  first,  by  the  disciples,  of  the  charac- 
ter of  their  Master 229 


CONTENTS.  7 

I.  —  Promise  of  Jesus  to  send  the  Comforter  not  limited  to  the  first  age, 

nor  relating  to  an  abstract  religious  principle 231 

^  II-  —  Difference  between  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  churches  in  this 

respect 234 

§  ni.  —  Points  of  resemblance,  and  of  difference,  between  our  condition 

and  that  of  Christians  in  the  first  age,  in  respect  of  spiritual  gifts  236 
§  IV.  —  Miraculous  gifts  peculiar  to  the  primitive  church,  238;  for  what 

purpose  bestowed,  239 ;  when  and  how  withdrawn 242 

§  "V.  —  Extraordinary  and  ordinary  operations  of  the  Spirit  compared  242 
§  "VI.  —  The  early  Christians  compared  with  those  of  the  present  day  in 

respect  of  the  signs  of  the  gifts  bestowed  on  each,  247;  faith  required 

in  the  indications  of  power  to  work  miracles 247 

§  VII.  —  Equality,  in  the  most  important  point,  between  the  primitive  and 

the  present  church 255 

§  VIII.  —  Sign  of  the  Christian's  admission  to  the  privilege  of  spiritual 

guidance,  260;  design  of  the  eucharist  (note)  262.  See  Note  A  269 
§  IX.  —  Example  of  the  apostles  to  be  followed  by  reversing  in  some 

points  their  procedure,  263;  complete  certainty  as  to  the  rectitude  of 

our  judgments  unattainable 266 

Note  A.    On  the  figurative  character  of  the  eucharist      .    .    .    269 

ESSAY  X. 

ON  SELF-DENIAL. 

§  I.  —  Mistakes  and  difficulties  as  to  this  point  arising  from  an  inatten- 
tive or  a  prejudiced  perusal  of  Paul  and  other  of  the  sacred  writers  272 

§  II.  —  Warning  of  Jesus  respecting  the  self-denial,  sufferings,  and  sac- 
rifices required  of  his  followers,  contrasted  with  what  would  have 
been  the  procedure  of  any  —  especially  a  Jewish  —  impostor  or  enthu- 
siast     275 

§  III.  —  No  self-injlicted  or  gratuitous  suffering  required  of  the  disciples 
of  Jesus 278 

§  IV.  —Tendency  of  mankind  to  attach  merit  to  ascetic  self-torture  .    280 

§  V.  —  False  teachers  disposed  to  combine  ascetic  mortifications  with  gen- 
eral licentiousness,  the  teaching  of  Jesus  keeping  clear  of  both  .    283 

§  VI.  —  Practice  of  the  apostles  conformable  to  the  lessons  they  had  re- 
ceived from  their  Master 287 

§  VII.  —  Introduction  into  Cliristian  churches  of  ascetic  self-torture,  in 
opposition  to  the  precepts  and  practice  of  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  a 
proof  of  their  divine  mission 289 


8  CONTENTS. 

§  Vin.  —  Indistinct  and  confused  notions  respecting  fasting,  arising  from 
inattention  to  the  senses  of  the  word,  and  to  the  grounds  and  the  objects 
of  the  practice 291 

§  IX. — The  word  "fast"  often  used  to  denote  simply  want  of  food, 
without  reference  to  voluntary  abstinence,  296;  fasting  an  ordinary- 
sign  and  accompaniment,  according  to  Jewish  usage,  of  mourning 
and  of  prayer 297 

§  X.  —  Strong  injunctions  to  prayer  by  our  Lord,  in  the  New  Testament, 
quite  different  from  his  mention  of  fasting 299 

§  XI.  —  What  were  the  "days  of  mourning"  by  the  disciples  for  the 
"bridegroom's  being  taken  from  them" 301 

§  XII.  —  Fasting  one  of  the  things  left  by  the  apostles  to  the  decision  of 
Christian  churches,  and  of  individuals 304 

\  XIIL  — Danger  of  asceticism  less  paljiable  but  not  less  real  than  that 
of  sensual  indulgences 307 

§  XIV.  —  What  kind  of  mortification  is  inculcated  by  our  Reformers  308 
Note  A.  On  ascetic  practices  in  Christian  churches  ....  310 
Notes  B,  C.    On  the  decisions  of  our  church  respecting  fasting  .    311 

ESSAY  XL 

ON  INFANT-BAPTISM. 

§  I. —Controversies  arising  out  of  verbal  differences 314 

§11. — Importance  of  dAvelling  on  points  of  practical  agreement   .    .    318 
§  III.  —  Real  difference  between  those  who  do  and  do  not  hold  the  pre- 

destinarian  doctrine 321 

§  IV.  —  Inquiry  into  the  practice  of  the  primitive  church  with  respect  to 

baptism 323 

§  V.  —  The  gospel  viewed  by  the  earliest  Christians  through  the  medium 

of  the  law 326 

§  VI.  — Paul's  view  of  the  analogy  between  the  Old  and  the  New  Dispen- 
sations     328 

§  VII.  —  Views  of  our  Reformers  concerning  baptism 332 

^  VIII.  —  Importance  of  using  various  expressions  to  convey  the  same 

truth 336 

§  IX.  —  Effects  produced  by  unchristian  bitterness  in  controversy  .  338 
Notes  A-L 341 


INTEODUCTION. 


It  was  my  object  in  a  former  series  of  Essays  to  set  forth 
the  importance  of  an  earnest  and  studious  attention  to  the 
Christian  revelation.  There  is  a  notion,  more  commonly  en- 
tertained than  acknowledged,  that  the  gospel  is  a  mere  author- 
itative republication  of  natural  religion,  —  that  consequently 
it  is  chiefly,  if  not  solely,  to  those  of  unphilosophical  and  vul- 
gar minds,  incapable  of  perceiving  the  internal  evidence  of 
this  natural  religion,  and  the  intrinsic  beauty  of  virtue,  that 
such  a  revelation  is  important  or  needful,  —  and  that,  to  the 
more  intelligent  and  refined,  it  matters  little  whether  or  not 
they  inquire  minutely  into  the  particulars  of  that  revelation  — 
whether  they  believe,  or  disbelieve,  or  doubt,  its  reality,  or 
whether  they  even  propose  to  themselves  the  question.  With 
a  view  to  counteract  this  (as  it  may  be  called)  heresy  of  in- 
difference, —  in  my  view,  the  most  deadly  of  all  errors,  not 
excepting  atheism,  —  I  pointed  out  and  dwelt  on  several 
peculiarities  of  the  Christian  religion ;  points  wherein  the 
gospel  scheme  differs  from  all  other  systems  of  religion  — 
whether  pretended  revelations,  or  avowedly  the  offspring  of 
human  reason  —  that  have  ever  existed.  And  the  contempla- 
tion of  these  peculiarities  must  evince,  I  thought,  the  impor- 
tance of  carefully  ascertaining  whether  the  gospel  revelation 
is  real  or  fictitious  ;  and  if  real,  of  endeavoring  to  understand 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

as  fully  as  possible  its  character,  and  to  embrace  it  heartily  as 
a  rule  of  life.  "While  at  the  same  time  the  consideration  that 
Christianity  differs  thus  widely  from  every  other  religious 
system,  in  many  important  points,  and  in  many  wherein  they 
all  agree,  and,  in  those  very  points  in  which  a  true  revelation 
might  be  expected  to  differ  from  any  scheme  of  man's  devising, 
—  this  consideration,  I  say,  presents  a  phenomenon  well  de- 
serving the  attention  of  such  as  are  candidly  inquiring  for  the 
evidences  of  this  religion.  For  till  unbelievers  can  propose 
some  solution  of  this  phenomenon  other  than  the  truth  of  the 
revelation  (which  in  so  many  centuries  they  have  never 
accomplished,  nor,  as  far  as  I  know,  even  attempted),  it  must 
afford,  at  the  very  least,  a  strong  presumption  that  the  religion 
is  really  from  God. 

These  disquisitions  seemed  to  lead  naturally  to  some  re- 
marks as  to  the  mode  in  which  the  Scriptures  should  be 
studied.  For  if  it  be  supposed  (and  the  notion  is  very  preva- 
lent) that  great  part  of  them  consist  of  a  series  of  perplexing 
difficulties,  serving  only  to  exercise  the  ingenuity  of  theologians 
in  endless  controversies,  and  barren  of  all  edifying  application, 
or  even  leading  to  dangerous  practical  consequences,  the  result 
will  be,  that  the  student's  attention  will  be  confined  to  a  small 
portion  of  the  sacred  records,  and  to  that  portion  which  will, 
by  itself,  furnish  the  most  imperfect  view  of  the  peculiar 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  —  a  result  which  cannot  fail  to  foster 
the  error  above  alluded  to,  of  undervaluing  the  gospel  revela- 
tion, and  regarding  it  as  a  mere  authoritative  declaration  of 
certain  moral  truths. 

The  first  step,  then,  in  an  examination  of  the  gospel  scheme, 
after  we  have  once  been  convinced,  generally,  that  it  is  worth 
examining,  is  to  guard  against  the  bias  to  which  we  are  liable, 


INTEODUCTION".  11 

either  from  the  apprehension  of  perplexing  difficulties  in  it,  or 
from  a  suspicion  of  the  inutility  or  dangerous  tendency  of  its 
most  remarkable  doctrines.  Such  a  bias  cannot  fail  to  deprave 
the  judgment  as  to  the  real  character  of  the  gospel  revelation. 
In  the  preliminary  Essay,  accordingly,  I  have  endeavored 
not  only  to  inculcate  the  importance  of  such  an  earnest  pursuit 
of  truth,  and  steady  adherence  to  it,  as  may  overcome  the 
seductions  of  indolence  and  of  seeming  expediency,  but  I 
have  pointed  out  also  the  several  modes  of  self-deceit  by  which 
men  persuade  themselves  that  they  are,  when  in  fact  they  are 
not,  sincere  lovers  of  truth ;  and  the  way  in  which  that  ten- 
dency may  be  best  combated ;  namely,  by  assigning  in  every 
case,  not,  as  is  often  done,  the  second,  but  the  first  place  to 
the  inquiry,  What  is  true  ? 

Much  that  has  occurred  since  the  first  appearance  of  this 
Essay  has  raised  my  estimate  of  the  importance  of  the  subject. 
When  I  first  published  it,  and  also,  not  very  long  after,  the 
one  on  Pious  Frauds  (3d  Series),  I  did  so,  of  course,  under 
the  conviction  that  the  dangers  therein  adverted  to,  of  being 
seduced  from  the  straight  path  of  ingenuous  veracity,  were 
neither  unreal  nor  trifling.  And  I  was  confirmed  in  this 
conviction  —  groundless  as  it  may  have  seemed  to  some  —  by 
the  judgment  of  several  whose  opinion  appeared  to  me  entitled 
to  much  deference  ;  including  —  strange  as  it  may  seem  — 
persons  who,  a  few  years  after,  came  forward  to  defend  and 
act  upon  principles  diametrically  opposite  to  those  which  I  had 
been  enforcing.  But  though  convinced  of  the  necessity  of 
watchfulness  against  deviations  from  the  straight  line  of  simple, 
uncompromising  sincerity,  I  was  not  prepared  for  such  an  out- 
break as  subsequently  took  place  of  open  defiance  of  truth- 
In  common  with  many  others,  though  to  a  less  degree  than 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

some  of  them,  I  was  astonished  at  the  plain  avowal  of  the 
system  of  Reserve,^  Double-doctrine,  Disciplina  Arcani, 
(Economy,  or  Phenakism,  as  it  has  variously  been  denom- 
inated. And  I  was  even  still  more  astonished  that  so  many 
should  be  found  who  could  not,  or  would  not,  perceive,  palpa- 
ble as  it  was,  this  avowal,  and  the  corresponding  conduct,  even 
when  pointed  out  to  them. 

But  most  of  all  was  I  astonished  and  shocked  to  observe 
that  many  who  did  perceive,  and  censure,  the  disingenuousness 
of  the  system,  yet  continued  to  speak  with  admiration  of  its 
advocates  as  eminently  holy  men,  and  as  deserving,  on  the 
whole,  the  gratitude  of  the  church  for  their  alleged  services  in 
respect  of  certain  rites  and  forms  ;  making  the  "  tithes  of  mint 
and  rue  and  cummin  "  a  kind  of  set-off  against  the  neglect  of 
*•  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law ;  "  professing  to  agree  with 
them  in  the  main,  and  thus  lending  their  aid  towards  the  prev- 
alence of  a  party  whose  delinquencies  in  the  most  fundamental 
points  they  did  see  and  confess. 

Some  years  later  still,  yet  further  practical  avowals  of  a 
system  of  insincerity  opened  the  eyes  of  many  who  had  before 
disbelieved  its  existence,  and  excited  surprise  as  well  as  dis- 
gust in  these  ;  though  not  in  those  who  had,  several  years 
before,  called  attention  to  those  principles  and  practices,  not 
as  something  to  be  dreaded  hereafter,  but  as  actually  existing 
and  plainly  discernible.  And  I  would  suggest  that  there  is 
something  of  a  presumption  in  favor  of  the  judgment,  on  this 
subject,  of  those  who  plainly  saw,  and  pointed  out,  the  disin- 
genuous procedure  which  others  wholly  overlooked  then  (even 
though  the  former  invited  attention  to  it),  but  which  they  now 

1  See  Dr.  West's  Sermon  on  Reserve. 


LNTEODUCTIOIT.  13 

acknowledge  to  be  such  as  they  had  been  (vamly)  forewarned 
of. 

I  would  also  further  suggest,  to  those  who  have  been  in  the 
habit  of  eulogizing  and  professing  to  assent  to  —  on  the  whole 
and  in  the  main  —  the  system  which  they  now  perceive  to  be 
thus  tainted,  morally  as  well  as  doctrinally,  to  consider  whether 
they  are  not  bound  to  come  forward  with  an  open  protest 
against  principles  and  practices  which  they  admit  to  be  funda- 
mentally wrong.  To  say  that  the  advocates  of  that  system 
have  taught  much  that  is  true  and  good  and  useful,  is  no  more 
than  might  be  said  of  Mahomet,  who  protested  against  poly- 
theism and  image-worship.  If  any  person  in  his  time  (and  it 
is  likely  there  were  some  such)  who  wholly  disbelieved,  and 
privately  censured,  his  pretensions  to  inspiration,  and  his  claim 
to  be  the  promised  Paraclete,  had,  in  public,  contented  them- 
selves with  praising  his  inculcation  of  the  divine  unity  and  his 
exhortations  to  almsgiving,  and  dwelt  on  the  gratitude  due  to 
him  for  the  good  service  he  had  done,  we  should  regard  them 
as  wilful  abettors  of  the  cause  of  known  falsehood.  For,  the 
more  there  is  of  good  and  true  in  any  system,  the  more  need 
there  is  to  warn  men  against  that  admixture  of  evil  and  false, 
which  is  thus  enabled  to  gain  the  greater  currency. 

Some  there  are,  however,  who  do  not  even  yet  perceive  the 
real  character  of  the  system,  or  the  danger  of  being  drawn 
into  it.  If  even  but  one  of  these  shall  have  been  roused  to 
increased  vigilance  by  anything  I  have  said  in  the  first  of 
these  Essays,  or  elsewhere,  I  shall  be  thankful  for  such  a 
result.  At  any  rate,  I  shall  have  cleared  my  own  con- 
science. 

In  the  second  Essay,  I  have  oJBTered  some  remarks  on  the 
neglect  or  dread,  prevalent  among  many  persons,  of  the  Apos- 


14  INTEODUCTION. 

tie  Paul's  writings  ;  on  the  causes  which  have  produced  this  ; 
and  the  consequences  to  which  it  leads. 

In  the  succeeding  four  Essays,  I  have  treated  of  certain 
doctrines  which  have  given  rise  to  much  controversy,  and 
particular  views  of  which  have  mainly  contributed  to  the 
dread  many  have  felt  of  this  apostle's  writings.  I  have  ac- 
cordingly endeavored  to  show  that  the  doctrines  in  question, 
as  taught  by  Paul,  afford  no  just  ground  of  alarm  ;  and  that 
the  extravagant  representation  of  them  that  some  have  given 
has  arisen  from  a  hasty  and  partial  view  of  the  works  of  this 
apostle.  In  these  Essays  I  have  especially  endeavored  to  set 
forth  the  importance  of  referring  to  the  Old  Testament  as  an 
interpreter,  by  analogy,  of  the  New. 

I  have  been  informed  that  some  of  the  hearers  of  the 
discourse  of  which  the  third  Essay  contains  the  substance,  un- 
derstood the  argument  in  §  II  to  be  merely  a  repetition  of 
Archbishop  Sumner's  in  his  valuable  work  on  "Apostolical 
Preaching."  Such  a  misapprehension  is,  I  trust,  less  likely  to 
take  place  in  the  closet ;  but  to  guard  against  the  possibility 
of  it,  it  may  be  worth  while  here  to  remark,  that  though  I 
coincide  with  Archbishop  Sumner  in  his  conclusion,  the  ar- 
guments by  which  we  respectively  arrive  at  it  are  different. 
The  distmction  which  he  dwells  on  is  that  between  national 
and  individual  election ;  that  on  which  I  have  insisted,  is,  the 
distinction  between  election  to  certain  privileges  and  to  Jinal 
reward; — he,  in  short,  considers  principally  the  parties  chosen, 
whether  bodies  of  men  or  particular  persons ;  I,  the  things 
to  which  they  are  chosen  —  whether  to  a  blessing,  absolutely, 
or  to  the  offer  of  one,  conditionally. 

Some  other  principles  of  interpretation,  frequently  over- 
looked, and  very  essential  to  the   right  understanding  both 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

of  Paul's  Epistles  and  of  the  other  sacred  writings,  I  have 
pointed  out  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  Essays,  as  applicable  to 
the  doctrinal  and  to  the  moral  precepts  of  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures.  The  use  to  be  made  of  the  apparent  contradictions 
we  so  frequently  meet  with  has  been  particularly  dwelt  on ; 
with  a  view  to  show  that  they  ought  not  to  be  regarded,  as  is 
commonly  done,  in  the  light  merely  of  difficulties  to  be  sur- 
mounted, but  as  a  peculiar  and  most  wisely-contrived  mode  of 
instruction. 

In  the  ninth  Essay,  I  have  applied  the  principles  before 
laid  down  to  the  ascertainment  of  the  sense  of  Scripture  re- 
specting the  doctrine  of  spiritual  influence,  —  a  doctrine  not 
only  of  the  highest  practical  importance,  and  one  concerning 
which  the  greatest  difficulties  have  been  started,  but  also 
one  in  respect  of  which,  more  perhaps  than  any  other,  Paul's 
authority  has  been  confidently  appealed  to  by  some  in  support 
of  the  most  extravagant  conclusions,  and  for  that  reason  depre- 
ciated or  disregarded  by  others. 

In  the  tenth  Essay,  I  have  endeavored  to  trace  out  the  real 
character,  as  set  forth  in  Scripture,  of  Christian  self-denial ; 
contrasting  it  with  the  ascetic  mortifications  which  find  a  place 
in  false  or  corrupted  systems  of  religion,  and  which  were 
introduced  into  Christianity  through  an  inattentive  or  a  preju- 
diced perusal  of  several  passages  in  the  works  of  the  Apostle 
Paul  and  of  other  of  the  sacred  writers.  And  I  have  pointed 
out  that  the  errors  alluded  to,  lamentable  as  have  been  their 
effects,  serve  to  furnish  a  strong  evidence  of  the  divine  origin 
of  the  genuine  gospel. 

In  treating  of  these  subjects,  it  has  been  my  aim,  not  to 
ascertain  on  each  point  everything  that  may  be  reasonably 
believed  and  plausibly  maintained,  but  what  we  are   bound 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

to  believe  and  to  maintain  as  a  part  of  the  gospel  revelation  ; 
and  this  distinction  I  have  more  than  once  adverted  to,  as 
being  one  of  the  highest  importance,  and  not  seldom  over- 
looked. 

In  the  prosecution  of  these  inquiries,  I  have  freely  availed 
myself  of  whatever  remarks  or  illustrations  I  chance  to  meet 
with  in  various  authors,  that  appeared  suitable  to  my  purposes. 
As  therefore  there  is,  I  trust,  no  novelty  in  the  doctrines  incul- 
cated, so  there  is  no  pretension  to  complete  originaUty  in  the 
arguments  adduced.  If  I  shall  have  succeeded  in  selecting 
such  as  are  at  once  sound  and  generally  intelligible,  and  in 
arranging  and  expressing  them  in  a  perspicuous  and  inter- 
esting manner,  the  object  proposed  will  have  been  accom- 
plished. 

I  have  only  to  add,  that  the  design  of  the  present  work 
being,  not  so  much  to  refute  or  to  advocate  the  tenets  of  any 
particular  person  or  party,  by  means  of  an  appeal  to  Scripture, 
as  to  facilitate  the  interpretation  of  Scripture  to  those  who  are 
seeking  in  simplicity  for  divine  truths,  I  trust  it  will  be  re- 
ceived by  the  candid,  even  among  such  as  may  in  some  points 
differ  from  me,  with  no  feeling  of  party  prejudice  or  hostile 
suspicion. 

I  am  well  aware,  however,  that,  as  universal  approbation  is 
not  to  be  looked  for,  so  the  greater  part  of  that  which  an 
author  does  obtain  will  usually  not  be  from  those  whom  he 
has  really  most  influenced.  For,  the  effect  produced  by  any 
book  or  speech  of  an  argumentative  character  on  any  subjects 
whereon  diversities  of  opinion  prevail,  may  be  compared  — 
supposing  the  arguments  to  be  of  any  force  —  to  the  effects  of 
a  fire-engine  on  a  conflagration.  That  portion  of  the  water 
which  falls  on  solid  stone  walls,  or  on  anything  else  that  is 


INTRODUCTION".  17 

incombustible,  is  poured  out  where  it  is  not  needed.  That 
again  which  falls  on  blazing  beams  and  rafters,  is  cast  off  in 
volumes  of  hissing  steam,  and  will  seldom  avail  to  quench  the 
fire.  But  that  which  is  poured  on  woodwork  that  is  just  be- 
ginning to  kindle  may  stop  the  burning  ;  and  that  which  wets 
the  rafters  not  yet  ignited,  but  in  danger,  may  save  them  from 
catching  fire.  Even  so  those  who  already  completely  concur 
with  the  writer,  as  to  some  point,  will  perhaps  bestow  high 
commendation  on  an  able  defence  of  the  opinions  they  already 
held  ;  and  those,  again,  who  have  fully  made  up  their  minds  on 
the  opposite  side,  are  usually  more  likely  to  be  displeased 
than  to  be  convinced.  But  both  of  these  parties  are  left 
nearly  in  the  same  mind  as  before.  Those,  however,  who  are 
in  a  hesitating  and  doubtful  state,  may  very  likely  be  decided 
by  forcible  reasons.  Those,  again,  who  have  not  hitherto  con- 
sidered the  subject,  may  be  induced  to  adopt  opinions  which 
they  find  supported  by  the  strongest  arguments. 

And  it  will  often  happen  that  the  same  individual  will  be- 
long to  every  one  of  the  above-mentioned  classes,  in  reference 
to  different  parts  of  the  same  work.  He  will  perhaps  warmly 
approve  of  some  parts  which  coincide  with  the  views  he  has 
already  fully  adopted ;  he  will  as  strongly  disapprove  what  is 
at  variance  with  his  own  fixed  opinions  ;  and  he  will  perhaps 
be  influenced  by  something  that  is  said  in  reference  to  points 
on  which  he  had  not  fully  made  up  his  mind. 

But  the  readiest  and  warmest  approbation  an  author  meets 
with,  will  usually  be  from  those  whom  he  has  not  convinced, 
because  they  were  (in  reference  to  that  portion  of  his  work 
which  calls  forth  their  applause)  convinced  already.  And  the 
effect  the  most  important,  and  the  most  difficult  to  be  produced, 
he  will  usually,  when  he  does  produce  it,  hear  the  least  of. 
2* 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

Those  whom  he  may  have  induced  to  reconsider,  and  gradu- 
ally to  alter  their  opinions,  are  not  likely,  for  a  time  at  least, 
to  be  very  forward  in  proclaiming  the  change. 

The  tenth  and  the  eleventh  Essays,  which  have  been  added 
to  the  later  editions,  have  also  been  printed  separately  for  the 
use  of  the  purchasers  of  the  former  editions. 


ESSAY    I 


ON  THE  LOYE   OF  TRUTH. 

§  I.     That  any   one  who  undertakes  to  propagate  or   to 
maintain  any  religion  should  represent  it  as  a 

•'  *^  ^     ^  ^  Christian  religion 

true  one,  and  should  demand  reception  for  it  on     distinguished  from 

Paganism,        and 

that  ground,  seems  to  us  of  the  present  day  so     characterized    by 

.  its  claim  to  truth 

natural  and  unavoidable  that  many,  probably,  as  estabhshed  by 
would  be  ready  to  take  for  granted  that  this  dIman?oHaith'in 
must  have  been  the  case  always ;  —  that  the  *^^*  *''"*'^* 
question  of  "  true  or  false  ?  "  must  always  have  stood,  as  it  cer- 
tainly ought  to  stand,  on  the  Yerj  threshold  of  every  inquiry 
respecting  such  a  subject ;  and  that  all  who  adhered  to  an  old, 
or  embraced  a  new  religious  system,  or  rejected  either,  how- 
ever credulous,  or  prejudiced,  or  otherwise  bad  judges  of 
evidence  they  might  be,  yet  must  have  supposed  themselves  at 
least  to  be  determined  by  evidence,  of  some  kind  or  other,  to  be- 
lief or  disbelief  in  the  truth  of  what  was  proposed  to  them. 
And  accordingly  there  are,  probably,  many  who  do  not  estimate 
the  full  force  and  importance  of  our  Lord's  reply  to  Pilate :  "  For 
this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness  of 
the  truth.  Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  my  voice." 
A  moderate  acquaintance,  however,  with  the  habits  and 
modes  of  thought  which  prevailed  among  the  ancient  heathen, 
may  convince  us  that  the  real  state  of  things  was  far  from 


20  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

being  such  as  the  above  reasoning  would  lead  us  to  suppose. 
Their  minds  were,  on  this  subject  especially,  estranged  from 
the  love  of  truth.  Many  circumstances,  indeed,  concurred  to 
render  them  habitually  indifferent  to  it.  Among  the  learned, 
philosophical  pursuits  seem  to  have  been  originally  introduced 
as  an  elegant  recreation  ^ ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  many 
at  least  attached  themselves  to  this  or  that  sect,  not  from  any 
sincere  conviction  of  the  truth  of  its  doctrines,  but  to  furnish 
themselves  with  suitable  topics  for  declamations.  The  schools 
of  the  philosophers  were  a  kind  of  intellectual  Palajstra  ;  and 
there  was  a  close  analogy  between  their  disputation  and  the 
prevailing  gymnastic  contests.  Each  was  a  game ;  the  object  of 
which  was  victory,  without  any  ulterior  end,  but  only  for  the 
display  of  strength  and  skill,  bodily  or  intellectual.  And  the 
zealous  cultivation  of  rhetoric,  to  which  the  majority  of  eminent 
men  made  all  other  studies  subordinate,  and  whose  most  appro- 
priate object  is  not  the  discovery  of  truth,  but  the  invention  of 
arguments,^  could  not  but  foster  the  prevailing  disregard  of  truth. 
It  seems,  too,  to  have  been  the  settled  conviction  of  most  of 
those  who  had  the  sincerest  desire  of  attaining  truth  themselves, 
that  to  the  mass  of  mankind  truth  was  in  many  points  inex- 
pedient, and  unfit  to  be  communicated;  that  however  de- 
sirable it  might  be  for  the  leading  personages  in  the  world 
to  be  instructed  in  the  true  nature  of  things,  there  were  many 
popular  delusions  which  were  essential  to  the  well-being  of 
society.^  And  in  the  foremost  rank  of  these  they  placed  their 
popular  religions.  Their  own  notions  respecting  the  Deity 
were  totally  unconnected  with  morality;  and  they  despaired 
of  imbuing  the  vulgar  with  the  philosophical  principles  on 
which  they  made  virtue  to  rest.  They  made  it  a  point  of 
duty,  therefore,  to  testify  by  their  example  the  utmost  respect 

J  l.XO\i\.  2  Elements  of  Logic.  B.  IV.  ch.  3,  §  ll. 

3  See  a  Discourse  on  the  Doctrine  of  Keserve,  by  Eev.  J.  West. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  21 

for  the  established  religion ;  and  to  impress  on  the  multitude 
that  reverence  for  the  gods,  and  dread  of  divine  judgment 
on  crimes,  which  they  themselves,  in  their  own  more  private 
writings,  derided. 

They  did  not,  however,  seek  to  effect  this  object  —  and  this 
is  a  circumstance  deserving  of  especial  attention  —  by  under- 
taking to  prove  the  truth  of  the  popular  religions.  He  who 
labors  to  prove,  imphes  the  possibility  of  doubt,  and  chal- 
lenges inquiry ;  and  they  well  knew  that  there  was  no  evi- 
dence for  the  existing  superstitions  which  could  satisfy  doubts, 
or  stand  the  test  of  inquiry.^  The  only  thing  to  be  done, 
therefore,  was  to  forbid  all  doubts  as  impious,  —  to  suppress 
all  inquiry ;  and,  consequently,  to  forego  even  the  practice 
of  asserting  the  truth  of  the  established  systems,  which  had, 
as  Paul  expresses  it,  "  changed  the  truth  of  God  into  a  lie."  ^ 
They  were  maintained  as  politically  expedient  by  the  civil 

1  A  late  writer,  who  professes  a  great  regard  for  Christianity,  would  have  all 
young  persons  kept  in  ignorance  that  any  one  ever  doubted  Christianity  I  and 
thinks  that,  if  we  neglect  this  sage  advice,  we  shall  run  a  serious  risk  ot  making 
our  children  infidels,  by  laying  before  them  the  evidences  of  their  religion.  lie 
forgets  that  a  child  cannot  read  the  New  Testament  without  learning  that  "  some 
believed  the  words  that  were  spoken,  and  some  believed  not ;  "  and  that  no  one 
can,  in  these  days,  be  so  completely  debarred  from  all  knowledge  of  history  as 
not  to  hear  of  the  French  at  the  Revolution  abjuring  Christianity,  and  of  mul- 
titudes of  their  priests  professing  unbelief. 

And  —  as  to  saying  that  inquiry  must  lead  to  unbelief—  it  is  strange  that 
such  writers  should  not  perceive  that  an  admission  of  this  kind,  coming  from  a 
professed  friend  to  Christianity,  tends  more  to  shake  men's  faith  in  it  than  all 
the  attacks  of  all  the  avowed  infidels  in  the  world  put  together.  For,  what 
would  such  a  writer  say  of  some  professed  friend  coming  forward  as  his  advo- 
cate, ami  saying,  "  My  friend,  here  is  a  veracious  and  worthy  man,  and  there  is 
no  foundation  for  any  of  the  charges  brought  against  him;  and  his  integrity 
is  fully  believed  in  by  persons  who  thoroughly  trust  him,  and  who  have  never 
thought  of  reasoning  or  inquiring  about  his  character  at  all.  But  of  all  things, 
do  not  make  any  investigation  into  his  character;  for  the  more  you  inquire  and 
examine,  the  less  likely  most  people  will  be  to  believe  in  his  integrity  1 "  —  Cau- 
tions for  the  Times,  No.  29,  p.  471,  472. 

2  Rom.  i.  25. 


22  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

magistrates,  whose  appropriate  instrument  is  not  argument, 
but  coercion ;  and  who  for  the  most  part  utterly  disbelieved 
them,  and  were  sensible  that  they  could  not  be  established 
by  evidence,  yet  were  convinced  that  they  ought  to  be 
established  by  law.  And  as  it  is  the  nature  of  legal  enact- 
ments to  produce,  not  belief,  but  merely  outward  conformity 
and  submission,  it  was  the  inevitable  result  of  this  state  of 
things  that  the  ideas  of  religion  and  of  truth  —  of  pious 
demeanor  and  of  sincere  belief —  should  come  to  be  com- 
pletely disjoined  in  men's  minds  ;  and  that  they  should  even 
be  somewhat  startled  at  the  very  pretension  to  truth  as  resting 
on  evidence^  in  any  religion,  and  at  the  requisition  of  faith  in 
it,  on  the  ground  of  its  truth.  It  was  what  they  had  never 
been  used  to.  Philosophers  of  the  most  discordant  tenets, 
poets  of  all  descriptions,  politicians  and  other  men  of  business, 
amidst  all  the  variety  of  their  views  and  conduct,  had  always 
concurred  in  maintaining  the  popular  religions,  and  in  main- 
taining them  on  any  other  ground  than  that  of  truth.  "  The 
worship  of  the  gods  is  an  institution  of  our  country :  These 
rights  are  venerable  from  their  antiquity  :  ^  The  neglect  of 
them  would  argue  disrespect  for  our  ancestors,  and  contempt 
for  the  laws :  A  respect  for  religion  is  useful  for  maintaining 
due  subordination  among  the  people',"  —  these,  and  such  as 
these,  were  their  arguments ;  and  the  conclusion  accordingly 
drawn  was,  that  every  man  ought  to  worship  the  gods  according 
to  the  established  institutions.  Truth,  and  belief  in  the  truth, 
seem,  in  this  matter,  to  have  scarcely  entered  their  minds.^ 

1  Such  was  the  remark  of  Tacitus  respecting  the  religion  of  the  Jews :  "  Hi 
ritus,  quoquo  modo  inducti,  vetustate  defenduntur;  "  a  description  much  more 
suitable  to  the  pagan  religions,  both  in  respect  of  the  fact  and  of  the  opinions 
of  the  respective  votaries.  It  was  the  boast  of  the  Jews  that  they  had  "  the 
form  of  knowledge  and  of  the  truth,  in  the  law."    Rom.  ii.  20. 

2  1  have  treated  more  fully  of  this  point  in  the  Essays  (Fourth  Series)  on  the 
Dangers,  etc.,  especially  in  the  Appendix,  Note  F.,  and  also  in  Essay  I.,  on 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 


ox  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  23 

Pilate  accordingly  seems  to  have  been  perplexed  by  our 
Lord's  reply,  stating  that  He  had  come  into  the  world  for  the 
purpose  of  bearing  *'  witness  to  the  truth."  His  inquiry,  What 
is  truth  ?  does  not  seem  (as  an  eminent  writer  imagines)  to 
have  been  made  in  jest.^  The  Roman  Governor  was  evidently 
in  no  jesting  mood,  nor  at  all  disposed  to  treat  Jesus  with  con- 
tempt ;  but  (for  whatever  reason)  was  very  seriously  intent  on 
investigating  his  case,  and  procuring  his  acquittal.  Whether 
there  be  sufficient  ground  or  not  for  the  conjecture  of  some 
that  he  was  in  expectation  of  Jesus  assuming  the  temporal  sov- 
ereignty by  the  employment  of  those  miraculous  powers  of 
which  no  one  could  have  been  ignorant,  and  was  disposed,  from 
views  of  personal  aggrandizement,  to  favor  his  pretensions,^  at 
any  rate  it  is  plain  he  was  endeavoring  to  learn  what  his  de- 
signs and  pretensions  were,  and  hence  eagerly  asked,  catching, 
as  it  were,  at  his  words,  "Art  thou  a  king,  then  ?  "  The  answer 
in  which  Jesus  claims  to  be  a  minister  of  the  truth,  seems  to 
have  disappointed  and  perplexed  him.  "  What  is  truth  ?  "  he 
replied ;  as  much  as  to  say,  "  What  has  truth  to  do  with  the 
present  business  ?  I  wish  for  information  as  to  your  claims 
and  objects,  —  what  sovereignty  it  is  that  you  pretend  to,  or 
aim  at.  And  you  tell  me  about  truth ;  what  is  that  to  the 
purpose  ?  " 

On  this,  and  on  other  occasions,  our  Lord  points  out  truth 
as,  in  an  especial  manner,  the  characteristic  of  his  religion : 
"  If  ye  continue  in  my  words,  then  are  ye  my  disciples  in- 
deed ;  and  ye  shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make 
you  free."  —  "I  am  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life."  — 
"  They  that  worship  God  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in 
truth." — "When  he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  shall 
guide  you  into  all  truth."  —  "  And  for  their  sakes  I  sanctify 

1  See  Annotation  on  Bacon's  first  Essay. 

2  See  Discourse  on  the  Treason  of  Judas  Iscariot. 


24  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

myself,  that  they  also  might  be  sanctified  through  the  truth." 
His  great  adversary,  on  the  other  hand,  is  designated  by  Him 
as  a  "liar,  and  the  father  of  lies."  And  the  apostles  of 
Christ,  in  like  manner,  perpetually  make  use  of  the  words 
"  Truth,"  and  "  Faith,"  to  designate  the  Christian  religion ;  for 
example,  "  God  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  to  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth " —  1  Tim.  ii.  4.  "  Having 
your  loins  girt  about  with  truth  " —  Ephes.  vi.  14.  "They  re- 
ceived not  the  love  of  truth,  that  they  might  be  saved" — 
2  Thess.  ii.  10.  "  Chosen  to  salvation,  through  belief  of  the 
truth  " —  2  Thess.  ii.  13.  "After  we  have  received  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth" — Heb.  x.  26.  "Ye  have  purified  your 
souls  in  obeying  the  truth  " —  1  Pet.  i.  22.  "  The  way  of  truth 
shall  be  evil-spoken  of" — 2  Pet.  ii.  2.  "Hereby  we  know 
that  we  are  of  the  truth  " —  1  John  iii.  19,  etc. ;  —  by  all  which 
more,  I  conceive,  was  implied  than  that  the  religion  is  true,  and 
is  the  only  true  one,  and  that  faith  in  it  is  required.  In  the 
present  day  this  would  be  implied  by  the  very  circumstance  of 
preaching  any  religion  ;  but  in  those  days  the  very  pretension 
to  truth,  the  very  demand  of  faith,  were  characteristic  distinc- 
tions of  the  gospel.  The  heathen  mythology  not  only  was  not 
true,  but  was  not  even  supported  as  true  ;  it  not  only  deserved 
no  faith,  but  it  demanded  none.  It  was  needful,  therefore,  to 
inform  and  remind  men  not  merely  of  the  strength  of  the  gos- 
pel claims,  but  of  the  nature  of  those  claims ;  to  point  out 
not  only  the  force  of  the  evidence  in  its  favor,  but  its  appeal  to 
evidence.  And  when  our  Lord  adds, "  Every  one  that  is  of  the 
truth  heareth  my  voice,"  he  is  evidently  describing  the  subjects 
of  his  kingdom.  As  it  was  a  "  kingdom  not  of  this  world," 
so  its  subjects  were  to  be  not  necessarily  Jews,  or  inhabitants 
of  any  particular  country,  but  such  as  were  "  of  the  truth ; " 
that  is,  persons  sincerely  willing  and  earnestly  desirous  to  seek 
and  to  embrace  whatever  should  be  shown  to  be  a  true  religion. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  25 

And  this  is  plain  from  his  saying,  "  Not  every  one  that  heareth 
my  voice  is  of  the  truth,"  —  but  the  converse.  His  disciples 
became  such,  in  consequence  of  their  beiug,  in  the  sense  just 
described,  "  of  the  truth." 

Many,  indeed,  of  our  Lord's  expressions  concerning  the 
truth  of  his  religion,  have  a  reference  rather  to  the  types  and 
shadows  of  the  Mosaic  dispensation,  than  to  the  fables  of  the 
heathen  mythology.  As  contrasted  with  these  last,  Christianity 
was  truth  as  opposed  to  falsehood;  as  contrasted  with  the  Jew- 
ish system,  it  was  the  truth,  in  the  sense  of  "reahty,"  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  emblems,  symbols,  representations  of 
that  reality,  —  from  the  "  shadow  of  good  things  to  come," 
contained  in  the  Levitical  Law.^  In  this  sense  it  is  that  the 
apostles  tell  us  "  The  law  was  given  by  Moses,  but  grace  and 
truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ."  And  this  also  was  probably  the 
chief  import  of  our  Lord's  expression,  "  The  truth  shall  make 
you  free  ; "  that  is,  free  from  the  precise  and  minute  directions, 
and  burdensome  ceremonial,  of  the  Mosaic  Law,  which  was  in- 
stituted for  the  very  purpose  of  shadowing  forth,  and  preparing 
the  way  for,  the  glorious  truths,  or  realities,  of  the  gospel. 

This  consideration,  however,  does  not  lessen  the  force  of 
what  has  been  said  respecting  the  prominent  place  assigned  to 
the  "  truth "  of  Christianity  as  characteristic  of  the  religion. 
Its  truth,  in  the  sense  of  reality  contrasted  with  type,  and 
substance  with  shadow,  implies  its  truth  as  opposed  to  false- 
hood also.  It  was  the  same  quality  that  distinguished  it  from 
the  more  imperfect  revelations  of  the  "  Law  "  on  one  side,  and 
from  the  fictions  and  misconceptions  of  the  Pagans  on  the 
other :  "  The  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  "  ^  was  to  supersede  both 
the  heathen  idolatry,  by  destroying  it,  and  "  the  law  and  the 
prophets," —  not  by  destroying,  indeed,  but  by  fulfilHng  them. 

1  See  Hinds's  Catechists'  Manual  (p.  264),  a  book  which,  in  my  judgment,  no 
young  clergyman  or  master  of  a  family  should  be  without. 

2  Ep.  to  Eph.  iv.  21. 

3 


26  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

And  it  should  be  carefully  borne  in  mind,  that  though  the 
reiterated  allusions  to  "  truth  "  were  in  a  great  degree  called 
forth  by  the  strong  contrast  which  the  new  religion  presented, 
in  this  particular,  to  those  at  that  time  opposed  to  it,  the  char- 
acteristic itself  must  equally  belong  to  the  same  religion  at  all 
times.  The  gospel  itself  is  always  and  everywhere  the  same ; 
though  particular  times  and  places  may  require  that  this  or 
that  particular  feature  of  it  should  be  especially  pointed  out 
and  dwelt  on.  Even  so  creeds,  or  sets  of  articles,  employed 
as  a  symbol  or  test  of  orthodoxy,  may  vary,  and  have  varied, 
according  to  the  emergencies  occasioned  by  the  prevalence  of 
particular  errors ;  though  the  absolute  and  intrinsic  soundness 
of  the  articles  of  faith  themselves  must  be  always  the  same. 
Temporary  or  local  circumstances  are  the  cause,  not  of  any 
article's  being  or  not  being  a  part  of  the  Christian  faith,  but  of 
its  being  a  part  which  it  is  needful  to  set  forth  prominently, 
and  insist  on.^ 

§  II.  But  how,  it  may  be  said,  do  these  considerations 
Liability  of  Chris-  affcct  US  Christians  of  the  present  day  ?  We,  it 
Bistentiy  wit'h  this  IS  to  bc  hopcd,  are  not  chargeable  with  that  cul- 
DotsteldiTy  fouow^  pablc  carclcssness  about  truth,  especially  in  reli- 
ing  truth.  gious  matters,  which  characterized  the  ancients. 

"We  do  believe  in  Jesus  as  the  "  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life." 

Let  it  be  remembered,  however,  that  as  the  ancient  heathen 
are  not  the  standard  by  which  we  are  to  be  measured,  so  it  is 
not  our  superiority  to  them  that  will  at  once  acquit  us.  They 
had  many  excuses,  of  which  we  have  none,  for  their  disregard 
of  truth :  in  particular,  they  knew  not,  as  we  do,  of  any  reli- 
gion that  did  challenge  inquiry,  and  appeal  to  evidence,  and 
demand  well-grounded  and  firm  belief;  that  taught  them  to 
"prove  all  things,  and  hold  fast  that  which  is  right,"  and  to  be 

1  See  Note  A,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  27 

"  ready  to  give  a  reason  of  their  hope."  Do  Christians,  then, 
in  this  respect  show  themselves  worthy  of  their  peculiar  advan- 
tages ?  Do  they  speak  and  act  altogether  consistently  with  a 
religion  which  is  built  on  faith  in  the  truth  ?  The  professors  of 
such  a  religion  ought  not  merely  to  believe  it  in  sincerity,  but 
to  adhere  scrupulously  to  truth  in  the  rneans  employed  on 
every  occasion,  as  well  as  in  the  ends  proposed ;  and  to  follow 
fearlessly  wherever  truth  may  lead. 

Now  we  should  recollect  that  most  of  the  pretended  mira- 
cles, the  "pious  frauds"  as  they  are  called,  perpetrated  by 
many,  are,  or  at  least  were,  in  the  first  instance,  the  work  of 
men  who  were  sincere  believers  in  the  truth  of  their  religion. 
It  is,  indeed,  on  this  ground  alone  that  a  pious  fraud  can  be  so 
called.  But  they  were  men  who  knew  "  not  what  manner  of 
spirit  they  were  of."  They  sought  to  promote,  by  means  of 
falsehood,  the  cause  of  Him  who  lived  and  died  for  the  truth. 
They  believed  the  gospel  to  have  come  from  God,  but  wanted 
faith  in  his  power  and  care  to  support  and  prosper  it;  and 
turned  aside  from  the  straight  path  of  sincerity,  to  seek  for  the 
(supposed)  expedient,  by  the  crooked  roads  of  worldly  policy. 
But  still,  though  most  unchristian  in  their  spirit,  —  though 
they  had  "neither  part  nor  lot  in  this  matter,  but  were  in 
the  gall  of  bitterness  and  in  the  bond  of  iniquity, "  —  their 
general  belief  in  Christianity  was,  doubtless,  in  most  instances, 
sincere  ;  and  I  have  adverted  to  their  case  for  the  very  purpose 
of  pointing  out  the  important  circumstance,  that  the  fullest  con- 
viction of  the  truth  of  the  cause  in  which  we  may  be  engaged, 
is  no  security  against  our  sliding  into  falsehood,  unless  we 
are  sedulous  in  forming  and  cherishing  a  habit  of  loving  and 
reverencing,  and  strictly  adhering  to  truth.^ 

Protestants,  however,  in  these  times,  it  may  be  said,  have  no 
pretended  miracles  —  practise  no  pious  frauds.     But  how  far  is 

1  See  Essay  (Third  Scries)  on  Pious  Frauds. 


28  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

this  (supposed  the  fact  to  be  strictly  so)  to  be  attributed  to  a 
genuine  detestation  of  falsehood,  as  odious  in  His  sight  who 
lived  and  died  in  the  cause  of  truth,  and  to  a  firm  rehance  on 
His  providence ;  and  how  far,  to  a  conviction  furnished  by  ex- 
perience, that  fraud  is,  in  the  end,  detrimental  to  the  cause  it  is 
designed  to  serve,  and  that  in  these  days  its  success  would  be 
especially  short-lived  ?  To  what  degree  each  man  is  in  each 
instance  actuated  by  a  love  of  truth,  or  by  considerations  of 
seeming  expediency,  can  be  fully  known  only  to  the  Searcher 
of  hearts.  It  is  only  by  the  most  rigid  self-examination  that  we 
can  approach  to  the  knowledge  of  this  in  our  own  case ;  and  it 
is  so  far  only  as  the  former  motive  operates  that  we  are  acting 
on  Christian  principle. 

It  is  undoubtedly  a  just  maxim  that  in  the  long  run  "  honesty 
is  the  best  policy  ; "  but  he  whose  practice  is  governed  hy  that 
maxhn  is  not  an  honest  man.  And  it  may  be  added,  that  a 
steady  and  uniform  adherence  to  honesty,  never  will  result 
from  that  maxim.  He  who  adheres  to  what  is  right,  because 
it  is  right,  will  be  rewarded  by  afterwards  perceiving  that  he 
has  taken  the  wisest  course.  But  to  those  who  seek,  in  the  first 
instance,  for  the  best  policy,  it  is  not  given  to  perceive,  in  all 
cases,  that  honesty  is  the  best  policy.  The  maxim,  therefore, 
though  true  and  valuable,  is  never,  to  any  one,  the  habitual 
and  constant  guide  of  conduct.  He  who  is  honest  is  always 
before  it ;  and  he  who  is  not,  will  often  be  far  behind  it. 

§  III.  To  suggest  a  few  topics  for  the  self-examination  I  have 
alluded  to,  may  not  be  unsuitable  with  a  view  to 

Necessity  of  self- 
examination  as  to     the  inquiries  we  are  engaged  in.     That  all,  even 

tliis  point.  nil  T  T  •  1  •         1 

of  the  learned  and  sagacious,  have  not  arrived  at 
true  conclusions  respecting  the  doctrines  of  Scripture,  is  at 
once  evident  from  the  great  diversity  of  their  conclusions.  It 
is  necessary  to  consider,  therefore,  how  we  may  best  escape 


ox  Tin:  LOVE  of  truth.  29 

being  of  the  number  of  those  who  fall  into  such  various  errors, 
—  how  we  may  be  best  qualified  for  profiting  by  the  lessons 
of  Him  whose  "  w^ord  is  truth."  And  this  must  surely  be  by  a 
fervent  desire  and  sedulous  w^atchfulness  to  acquire  and  pre- 
serve a  sincere,  unbiassed,  and  candid  disposition.  Without 
this,  the  highest  ability,  combined  with  the  most  laborious 
study,  will  do  nothing  towards  the  attainment  of  that  object. 

That  we  may  not,  however,  be  led  into  too  wide  a  field  of 
discussion,  it  should  be  observed,  that  I  do  not  propose  to  in- 
culcate the  duty  of  veracity  in  private  life,  or  to  enter  on  any 
metaphysical  disquisition  on  the  nature  of  truth  universally,  or 
on  what  may  be  regarded  as  the  different  species  of  it,  or  to 
treat  of  the  various  kinds  of  evidence  by  which  it  is  to  be  es- 
tabhshed;  but  simply  to  speak  of  the  importance,  and  the 
difficulty,  of  cultivating  and  establishing  as  a  habit,  a  sincere 
love  of  truth  for  its  own  sake,  and  a  steady,  thoroughgoing 
adherence  to  it  in  all  philosophical,  and  especially  in  religious 
inquiries. 

The  first  step  towards  attaining  this  state  of  mind,  and  as- 
certaining how  far  we  have  attained  it,  must  evidently  be  a 
strong  conviction  of  its  value,  together  with  a  distrust  of  our- 
selves. If  we  either  care  not  to  be  lovers  of  truth,  or  take  for 
granted  that  we  are  such,  without  taking  any  pains  to  acquire 
the  habit,  it  is  not  likely  that  we  ever  shall  acquire  it.  I  must 
here,  therefore,  briefly  notice  some  objections  which  I  have 
heard  urged  against  the  very  effort  to  cultivate  such  a  habit  as  I 
am  recommending ;  though,  in  fact,  they  arise  from  misappre- 
hension, and  are  directed  against  a  mistaken  view  of  the  subject. 

1.  The  first  is,  that  we  cannot  be  required  to  make 
truth  our  main  object,  but  happiness  ;  —  that  objection  to  the 
our  ultimate  end  is,  not  the  mere  knowledge  fali7purs°u?ngrd 
of  what  is  true,  but  the  attainment  of  what  is  P^°P"g««°g  t'""^- 
good,  to  ourselves  and  to  others.  But  this,  when  urged  as 
3* 


30  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

an  objection  against  the  views  here  taken,  is  evidently  founded 
on  a  mistake  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  raaxim,  that  truth 
shouki  be  sought  for  its  own  sake.  It  is  evident,  in  the  first 
place,  that  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  pursuit  of  all  truth  on  all 
subjects.  It  would  be  ridiculous  for  a  single  individual  to 
aim  at  universal  knowledge  ;  or  even  at  the  knowledge  of  all 
that  is  within  the  reach  of  the  human  faculties,  and  worthy  of 
human  study.  The  question  is  respecting  the  pursuit  of  truth, 
in  each  subject,  on  which  each  person  desires  to  make  up  his 
mind  and  form  an  opinion.  And  secondly,  the  purport  of  the 
maxim  that,  in  these  points,  truth  should  be  our  object,  is,  not 
that  mere  barren  knowledge  without  practice,  —  truth  without 
Sinj  ulterior  end,  should  be  sought;  but  that  truth  should  be 
sought  and  followed  confidently,  not,  in  each  instance,  only  so 
far  as  we  perceive  it  to  be  expedient,  and  from  motives  of  pol- 
icy, but  with  a  full  conviction  both  that  it  is,  in  the  end,  always 
expedient,  with  a  view  to  the  attainment  of  ulterior  objects 
(no  permanent  advantage  being  attainable  by  departing  from  it), 
and  also,  that,  even  if  some  end,  otherwise  advantageous,  coidd 
be  promoted  by  such  a  departure,  that  alone  would  constitute 
it  an  evil ;  that  truth,  in  short,  is  in  itself,  independently  of  its 
results,  preferable  to  error ;  that  honesty  claims  a  preference 
to  deceit,  even  without  taking  into  account  its  being  the  best 
policy. 

2.  Another  objection,  if  it  can  be  so  called,  is,  that  a  per- 
fectly candid  and  unbiassed  state  of  mind  —  a  habit  of  judging 
in  each  case  entirely  according  to  the  evidence  —  is  unattainable. 
But  the  same  may  be  said  of  every  other  virtue.  A  perfect 
regulation  of  any  one  of  the  human  passions  is  probably  not 
more  attainable  than  perfect  candor ;  but  we  are  not,  therefore, 
to  give  a  loose  to  the  passions ;  we  are  to  relax  our  efforts  for 
the  attainment  of  any  virtue,  on  the  ground  that,  after  all,  we 
shall  fall  short  of  perfection. 


ox  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  31 

3.  Another  objection  which  I  have  heard  is,  that  it  is  not 
even  desirable,  were  it  possible,  to  bring  the  mind  into  a  state 
of  perfectly  unbiassed  indifference,  so  as  to  weigh  the  evidence 
in  each  case  with  complete  impartiality.  The  evidence,  for 
instance,  for  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  it  is  said,  a  good 
man  must  wish,  and  ought  to  wish,  to  find  satisfactory ;  one 
who  loves  and  practises  virtue,  cannot  be,  and  ought  not  to  be, 
indifferent  as  to  the  question  whether  there  be  or  be  not  a  God 
who  will  reward  it. 

This  objection  arises,  I  conceive,  from  an  indistinct  and 
confused  notion  of  the  sense  of  the  terms  employed.^  A  can- 
did and  unbiassed  state  of  mind,  which  is  sometimes  called  in- 
difference or  impartiality,  that  is  of  iho,  judgment,  does  not  imply 
an  indifference  of  the  will,  —  an  absence  of  all  wish  on  either 
side ;  but  merely  an  absence  of  all  influence  of  the  wishes  in 
forming  our  decision,  —  all  leaning  of  the  judgment  on  the  side 
of  inclination,  —  all  perversion  of  the  evidence  in  consequence. 
That  we  should  wish  to  find  truth  on  one  side  rather  than  the 
other,  is  in  many  cases  not  only  unavoidable,  but  commendable  ; 
but  to  think  that  true  which  w^e  wish,  without  impartially 
weighing  the  evidence  on  both  sides,  is  undeniably  a  folly, 
though  a  very  common  one.  If  a  mode  of  effectual  and  speedy 
cure  be  proposed  to  a  sick  man,  he  cannot  but  wish  that  the 
result  of  his  inquiries  concerning  it  may  be  a  well-grounded 
conviction  of  the  safety  and  efficacy  of  the  remedy  prescribed : 
it  would  be  no  mark  of  wisdom  to  be  indifferent  to  the  restora- 
tion of  health ;  but  if  his  wishes  should  lead  him  (as  is 
frequently  the  case)  to  put  implicit  confidence  in  the  remedy 
without  any  just  grounds  for  it,  he  w^ould  deservedly  be  taxed 
with  folly.  Or,  again,  if  a  scheme  be  proposed  to  any  one  for 
embarking  his  capital  in  some  speculation  by  which  he  is  to 
gain  immense  wealth,  he  will  doubtless  wish  to  find  that  the 

1  See  Logic,  Appendix.    Article  Indifference. 


32  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

expectations  held  out  are  well-founded ;  but  we  should  call  him 
very  imprudent,  if,  as  many  do,  he  should  suffer  this  wish  to 
bias  his  judgment,  and  should  believe,  on  insufficient  grounds, 
the  fair  promises  held  out  to  him.  His  wishes,  we  should  say, 
were  both  natural  and  wise ;  but  since  they  could  not  render 
the  event  more  probable,  it  was  most  unwise  to  allow  them  to 
influence  his  decision.  In  like  manner,  to  take  the  instance 
above  alluded  to,  a  good  man  will  indeed  ivish  to  find  the  evi- 
dence of  the  Christian  religion  satisfactory ;  but  a  wise  man  will 
not  for  that  reason  think  it  satisfactory,  but  will  weigh  the 
evidence  the  more  carefully  on  account  of  the  importance  of 
the  question. 

By  confounding  together  these  two  very  distinct  things, 
indifference  of  the  will  and  indifference  of  the  judgment  (or, 
which  amounts  to  the  same,  taking  for  granted  that  the  two  are 
inseparably  conjoined,  and  must  be  present  or  absent,  together), 
I  have  known  a  person  maintain,  with  some  plausibihty,  the 
inexpediency,  with  a  view  to  the  attainment  of  truth,  of 
educating  people,  or  appointing  teachers  to  instruct  them  in  any 
particular  systems  or  theories,  —  of  astronomy,  medicine,  re- 
ligion, morals,  politics,  etc.,  —  on  the  ground  that  a  man  must 
wish  to  believe,  and  to  find  good  reasons  for  believing,  the  sys- 
tem in  which  he  has  been  trained,  and  which  he  has  been 
engaged  in  teaching;  and  that  this  wish  must  prejudice  his 
understanding  in  favor  of  it,  and  consequently  render  him  an 
incompetent  judge  of  truth. 

It  would  follow  from  this  principle,  that  no  physician  should 
be  trusted  who  is  not  utterly  indifferent  whether  his  patient 
recovers  or  dies ;  since,  else,  he  must  wish  to  find  reasons  for 
hoping  favorably  from  the  mode  of  treatment  pursued :  no  plan 
for  the  benefit  of  the  public,  proposed  by  a  philanthropist, 
should  be  listened  to ;  since  such  a  man  cannot  but  wish  it  may 
be  successful,  etc. 


ox  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  33 

No  doubt  the  judgment  is  often  biassed  by  tlie  inclinations; 
but  it  is  possible,  and  it  should  be  our  endeavor,  to  guard 
against  this  bias.  And,  by  the  way,  it  is  utterly  a  mistake  to 
suppose  that  the  bias  is  always  in  favor  of  the  conclusion 
wished  for.  It  is  often  in  the  contrary  direction.  There  is  in 
some  minds  a  tendency  to  unreasonable  doubt  in  cases  where 
their  wishes  are  strong ;  a  morbid  distrust  of  evidence  which 
they  are  especially  anxious  to  find  conclusive.  For  example, 
groundless  fears  for  the  health  or  safety  of  an  ardently-beloved 
child,  will  frequently,  on  account  of  their  earnest  wish  for  his 
welfare,  distress  anxious  parents.  Different  temperaments, 
sometimes  varying  with  the  state  of  health  of  each  individual, 
lead  towards  these  opposite  miscalculations.  Each  of  us  prob- 
ably has  a  natural  leaning  towards  one  or  the  other  (often 
towards  both  at  different  times)  of  these  infirmities,  — the 
over-estimate,  or  under-estimate  of  the  reasons  in  favor  of  a 
conclusion  we  earnestly  desire  to  find  true.  Our  aim  should 
be,  not  to  fly  from  one  extreme  to  the  other,  but  to  avoid  both, 
and  to  give  a  verdict  according  to  the  evidence;  preserving 
the  indifference  of  the  judgment,  even  when  the  will  cannot, 
and  indeed  should  not,  be  indifferent. 

There  are  persons,  again  (though  some  of  my  readers  will, 
perhaps,  be  disposed  to  doubt  the  fact),  who,  in  supposed 
compliance  with  the  precept,  *'lean  not  to  thine  own  under- 
standing," regard  it  as  a  duty  to  suppress  all  exercise  of  the 
intellectual  powers,  in  every  case  where  the  feelings  are  at 
variance  with  the  conclusions  of  reason.  They  deem  it  right 
to  "  consult  the  heart  more  than  the  head ; "  that  is,  to  surrender 
themselves,  advisedly,  to  the  bias  of  any  prejudice  that  may 
chance  to  be  present:  thus  deliberately,  and  on  principle, 
burying  in  the  earth  the  talent  intrusted  to  them,  and  hiding 
under  a  bushel  the  candle  that  God  has  lighted  up  in  the  mind. 
But  it  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  on  such  a  case ;  both  because  it 


34:  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

is  not,  I  trust,  a  common  one,  and  also  because  those  who  are 
thus  disposed  are  clearly  beyond  the  reach  of  argument,  since 
they  think  it  wrong  to  listen  to  it. 

I  am  far  from  recommending  presumptuous  inquiries  into 
things  beyond  the  reach  of  our  faculties  —  "  attempts  to  be  wise 
above  what  is  written "  —  or  groundless  confidence  in  the 
certainty  of  our  conclusions ;  but  we  cannot  even  exercise  the 
requisite  humility  in  acquiescing  in  revealed  doctrines,  unless 
we  employ  our  reason  to  ascertain  what  they  are ;  and  there  is 
surely  at  least  as  much  presumption  in  measuring  everything 
by  our  own  feelings,  fancies,  and  prejudices,  as  by  our  own 
reasonings. 

4.  Lastly,  another  objection  sometimes  brought,  not  so 
much  against  the  pursuit,  as  against  the  propagation  of  truth, 
is,  that  the  minds  of  many  men  are  incapable  of  rightly  appre- 
hending it;  that  the  attempt  to  teach  some  truths  to  such 
hearers  as  are  not  qualified  for  receiving  them,  and  to  remove 
some  errors  which  tliey  are  not  ripe  for  perceiving  to  be  such, 
would  only  excite  their  disgust  towards  everything  they  might 
hear  from  such  instructors  ;  or  that  some  might  assent  to  what 
they  heard,  while  they  put  the  most  mischievously  false  inter- 
pretation upon  it;  or,  lastly,  that  they  might  misapply  even 
what  they  had  rightly  understood,  —  as  persons  ignorant  of 
medicine  often  do  mischief  by  administering,  without  judgment, 
some  powerful  remedy,  whose  efficacy  they  have  witnessed. 
Even  thus,  it  may  be  said,  will  the  unlearned,  when  they  have 
been  taught  to  reject  some  long-established  error,  proceed, 
when  their  minds  are  once  unsettled,  to  reject  well-grounded 
doctrines  also ;  and  will  apply  the  arguments  by  which  they 
have  been  convinced  in  one  case,  to  another,  perhaps  very 
different  (though  they  are  incapable  of  understanding  that 
difference),  so  as  to  produce  the  most  erroneous  results.^ 

1  See  Dr  West's  Discourse  on  Reserve,  above  referred  to.    See  also  the  Index 
to  the  Tracts  for  the  Times. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  35- 

Accordingly,  it  is  urged,  our  Lord  himself  and  his  apostles 
abstained  from  teaching  everything  at  once  to  their  hearers, 
because  they  "  were  not  as  yet  able  to  bear  them ;  "  and  even 
so  important  a  doctrine  as  the  extension  of  the  gospel  to 
the  Gentile  world,  was  not  fully  made  known  to  the  apostles 
themselves  for  several  years  after  they  had  received  their 
commission. 

All  this  is,  in  a  certain  sense,  true ;  and  as  far  as  it  is  true  is 
no  contradiction  of  the  principle  I  have  laid  down,  but  an  appli- 
cation of  it.  For  to  teach  anything  which,  though  in  itself  true, 
will  inevitably  be  misunderstood  by  the  hearers,  is,  in  reality, 
to  propagate  not  truth  but  error ;  and  if  our  teaching  has  in 
any  case  a  necessary  tendency  to  lead  a  certain  class  of  hearers 
into  such  mistakes  on  other  points  as  we  have  no  power  to 
guard  against,  we  are  not  enlightening,  but  leading  them  into 
darkness.  If  we  were  to  suppose  a  case  (to  resort  to  an  illus- 
tration I  have  elsewhere  employed^)  of  our  informing  a  rustic 
that  the  sun  stands  still,  while,  for  some  reason  or  other,  we 
had  no  means  of  teaching  him  that  the  earth  turns  round,  he 
would  evidently  be  more  perplexed  than  instructed,  and  would 
be  more  than  ever  at  a  loss  to  understand  the  alternations  of 
day  and  night. 

To  show  that  w^hat  has  here  been  said  is  not  a  statement 
framed  for  the  occasion,  in  order  to  meet  objections,  I  will  take 
the  liberty  of  citing  a  passage  to  the  same  purpose  from  my 
Bampton  Lectures,  published  in  1822  :  "  Persons  of  inferior 
powers  and  attainments  may  be  led,  not  to  knowledge,  but  to 
error,  by  hastily  proposing  to  them  such  statements  and  ex- 
planations as  surpass  their  capacity ;  though  they  may  be 
intelligible  and  instructive  to  the  abler  and  more  advanced. 
No  vain  clamors,  therefore,  about  deceiving  the  people,  —  no 
groundless    charges  of  keeping   the  vulgar  in  ignorance,  and 

1  See  Appendix  to  Archbishop  King's  Discourse  on  Predestination,  No.  1. 


36  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

preaching  a  different  gospel  to  different  persons,  should  deter 
us  from  following  at  once  the  dictates  of  sound  sense,  and  the 
example  of  St.  Paul ;  or  induce  us  so  to  perplex  and  confuse 
*  those  who  are  weak  in  the  faith,'  as  really  to  incur  the  blame  of 
deceiving  them,  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  the  appearance  of  it. 
For,  it  should  be  remembered  that,  practically  speaking,  all 
truth  is  relative  :  that  which  may  be  to  one  man  a  true  state- 
ment of  any  doctrine,  may  be,  in  effect,  false  to  another,  if  it 
be  such  as  cannot  but  lead  him  to  form  false  notions ;  and  that 
which  gives  him,  if  not  a  perfectly  correct  notion  of  things  as 
they  are,  yet  the  nearest  to  this  that  he  is  capable  of,  may  be 
regarded  as,  to  him,  true."  ^ 

If,  then,  on  these  principles,  we  withhold  for  a  time  some 
part  of  the  truth  from  those  who  are  not  able  to  bear  it ;  if 
we  add  "  line  upon  line,  and  precept  upon  precept  —  here  a  lit- 
tle, and  there  a  little,"  striving  gradually  to  qualify  the 
learner  for  a  more  full  communication ;  if  we  labor  patiently 
to  wear  away  prejudices  by  little  and  little,  when  the  attempt 
to  eradicate  them  abruptly  would  be  unsuccessful  or  perni- 
cious, we  are  pursuing  that  method  of  inculcating  truth  which 
is  sanctioned  by  Christ  and  his  apostles.  But  if  we  make  the 
ignorance,  weakness,  or  prejudice  of  men  a  plea  for  suppress- 
ing or  disguising  truth,  or  for  conniving  at  error,  without 
laboring  at  the  same  time  to  remove  those  obstacles ;  if  we 
plead  that  they  are  not  yet  ripe  for  this  or  that  doctrine,  and 
expect  them  to  become  ripe,  like  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  by  mere 
waiting ;  if  we  are  content  to  leave  them  permanently  under 
the  influence  of  delusion,  —  to  postpone,  sine  die^  as  the  phrase 
is,  the  communication  of  religious  truths,  —  to  wait  indeffinitely 
for  some  unforseen  favorable  conjuncture  which  we  make  no 
exertions  to  bring  about,  —  w^e  are  proceeding  in  direct  contra- 
diction to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  and  the  example  of  its  Author. 

1  Lect.  IV.  pp.  129, 130.    Third  Edit. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  37 

"  I  have  jet  many  thing.^,"  said  He,  "  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye 
cannot  bear  them  now. "  But  He  did,  by  his  Spirit,  gradually 
impart  this  knowledge  to  them  afterwards ;  not  to  some  subse- 
quent generation,  but  to  those  very  same  individuals.  "  I  have 
fed  you  with  milk,  and  not  with  meat,"  says  St.  Paul ;  "  for  ye 
were  not  able  to  bear  it,  neither  yet  are  ye  able."  He  evidently 
implies  a  hope  that  they  (that  is,  not  some  future  generation,  but 
those  very  individuals)  will  he  able  to  bear  it;  nay,  he  is  evi- 
dently reproaching  them  for  not  being  already  better  qualified 
for  the  reception  of  divine  truth.  Indeed,  the  very  similitude 
of  babes  of  itself  draws  our  attention,  our  hopes,  and  our  en- 
deavors towards  a  progressive  growth  into  manhood. 

§  IV.  When,  however,  we  have  made  up  our  minds  as  to  the 
importance  of  seeking  in  every  case  for  truth,  Danger  of  men's 
with  an  unprejudiced  mind,  the  greatest  difficulty  feTv^;  wlhoutTf: 
still  remains ;  which  arises  from  the  confidence  ^'erlrrvtrf'S 
we  are  apt  to  feel  that  we  have  already  done     *'""!'' '  "?''''™  °*' 

'■  ''  making  it  not  the 

this,  and  have   soupjht  for  truth  with   success,     second  but  the  first 

*--'  question.   What  is 

For,  every  one  must  of  course  be  convinced  of  "'^  ^''"''^  ^ 
the  truth  of  his  own  opinion,  if  it  be  properly  called  his  opin- 
ion ;  and  yet  the  variety  of  men's  opinions  furnishes  a  proof 
how  many  must  be  mistaken.  If  any  one,  then,  would  guard 
against  mistake  as  far  as  his  intellectual  faculties  will  allow,  he 
must  make  it,  not  the  second,  but  the  first  question  in  each  case, 
"  Is  this  true  ?  "  It  is  not  enough  to  believe  what  you  main- 
tain :  you  must  maintain  what  you  believe ;  and  maintain  it 
because  you  believe  it ;  and  that,  on  the  most  careful  and 
impartial  review  of  the  evidence  on  both  sides.  For  any  one 
may  bring  himself  to  believe  almost  anything  that  he  is 
inclined  to  believe,  and  thinks  it  becoming  or  expedient  to 
maintain.  It  makes  all  the  difference,  therefore,  whether  we 
begin  or  end  with  the  inquiry  as  to  the  truth  of  our  doctrines. 
4 


38  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

To  express  the  same  maxim  in  other  words,  it  is  one  thing  to 
wish  to  have  truth  on  our  side,  and  another  thing  to  wish  sin- 
cerely to  be  on  the  side  of  truth}  There  is  no  genuine  love  of 
truth  implied  in  the  former.  Truth  is  a  powerful  auxiliary, 
such  as  every  one  wishes  to  have  on  his  side,  every  one  is 
rejoiced  to  find,  and  therefore  often  succeeds  in  convincing 
himself  that  the  principles  he  is  already  disposed  to  adopt, 
the  notions  he  is  inclined  to  defend,  may  be  maintained  as  true. 
A  determination  to  "  obey  the  truth,"  and  to  follow  wherever 
she  may  lead,  is  not  so  common.  In  this  consists  the  genuine 
love  of  truth;  and  this  can  be  realized  in  practice  only  by 
postponing  all  other  questions  to  that  which  ought  ever  to  come 
foremost :  "  What  is  the  truth  ?  "  The  minds  of  most  men  are 
preoccupied  by  some  feeling  or  other  which  influences  their 
judgment,  —  either  on  the  side  of  truth  or  of  error,  as  it  may 
happen,  —  and  enlists  their  learning  and  ability  on  the  side, 
whatever  it  may  be,  which  they  are  predisposed  to  adopt. 
1.  One  of  the  most  common  of  these  feelings  is  an  aversion 
Obstacles  to  the  to  douU  —  a  dislikc  of  having  the  judgment 
habit"!^  Disuke  of  ^^Pt  i^  suspense ;  which,  combined  with  indolence 
^°'^^^'  in  investigation,  induces  the  great  mass  of  man- 

kind to  make  up  their  minds  on  a  variety  of  points,  almost 
according  to  the  first  suggestion  that  is  offered.  As  the  illus- 
trious Greek  historian  expresses  it,  in  language  which  will 
hardly  admit  of  an  adequate  translation,  "the  generality  of 
mankind  are  so  averse  to  the  labor  of  investigating  truth,  that 
they  are  willing  rather  to  adopt  any  statement  that  is  ready- 
prepared  for  their  acceptance."^     But  he  who  would  cultivate 

1  Some  persons,  accordingly,  who  describe  themselves  —  in  one  sense  correctly 
—  as  "-follotoing  the  dictates  of  conscience,"  are  doing  so  only  in  the  same  sense 
in  which  a  person  who  is  driving  in  a  carriage  may  be  said  to  follow  his  horses, 
whicli  go  in  whatever  direction  he  guides  them. 

2  'ATaAaiTTcopos  rots  KoXKols  7}  ^tjttjo-js  ttJs  aXy^iias,  Koi  iirl  rh  eTOifia 
fxaWov  Tfj^TTovTai. —  Thucyd. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  39 

an  habitual  devotion  to  truth,  must  be  solicitous  in  the  first 
place  to  avoid  error ;  and  consequently  must  in  all  cases  prefer 
doubt  to  the  reception  of  falsehood,  or  to  the  admission  of  any 
conclusion  on  insufficient  evidence.  One  who  has  an  aversion 
to  doubt,  and  is  anxious  to  make  up  his  mind,  and  to  come  to 
some  conclusion  on  every  question  that  is  discussed,  must  be 
content  to  rest  many  of  his  opinions  on  very  slight  grounds ; 
since  no  one  individual  is  competent  to  investigate  fully  all  dis- 
putable points.  Such  an  one,  therefore,  is  no  lover  of  truth ; 
nor  is  in  the  right  way  to  attain  it  on  any  point.  He  may 
more  reasonably  hope  this,  who,  though  he  may  on  many 
points  perceive  some,  and  perhaps  a  great,  preponderance  of 
probability  on  this  or  that  side,  is  contented  to  come  to  a  de- 
cisive conclusion  only  on  those  few  which  he  has  been  enabled 
thoroughly  to  investigate.^ 

The  fault  I  have  been  speaking  of  is  one  which  men  are  the 
less  likely  to  detect  in  themselves,  from  this  circumstance, 
that  in  many  practical  cases  it  is  necessary  to  come  to  some 
decision,  speedily,  even  though  we  may  not  have  before  us  the 
fullest  evidence  that  we  could  desire,  or  even  that  we  might 
hope,  were  more  time  allowed  us,  to  obtain.  The  physician 
may  be  compelled  to  prescribe,  or  the  general  to  give  his 
orders,  immediately,  and  without  waiting  to  examine  all  the 
reasons  on  both  sides ;  because  delay  would  be  as  pernicious 
as  mistake.  In  cases  of  this  kind,  the  utmost  we  can  do  is  to 
make  up  our  minds  according  to  the  best  reasons  that  occur ; 
and  though  we  are  not  called  on,  even  then,  to  come  to  any 
certain  conclusion  in  our  minds,  if  there  are  no  sufficient 
grounds  for  it,  yet  we  must  act  as  if  we  were  certain.  If,  in  a 
journey,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  certainly  which  of  two 
or  three  roads  will  lead  us  aright,  we  must  yet  choose  one, 
because  we  are  certain  we  cannot  reach  the  journey's  end  by 

1  Essay  IV.  (Third  Seiies),  §  VIII. 


40  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

standing  still.  So,  also,  if  we  are  in  doubt  whether  thieves 
will  come  or  not,  we  bar  the  door,  as  if  we  were  certain  they 
would;  because  to  neglect  this  would  be  to  stake  all  on  the 
event  of  their  not  coming.  In  like  manner,  he  who  has  doubts 
about  the  truth  of  Christianity  is  bound  in  prudence  to  en- 
deavor to  act  as  if  it  were  true.  For  in  these,  and  many  other 
cases  of  practice,  "  not  to  decide,  is  to  decide."  ^  And  the 
habit  is  often  in  this  manner  acquired  of  forming  our  opinions 
as  hastily  as  our  practical  decisions  ;  and  that,  too,  even  in  cases 
where  no  immediate  step  is  necessarily  to  be  taken,  —  no  dan- 
ger, equal  to  the  danger  of  error,  to  be  incurred  by  remaining 
in  suspense.^ 

2.  To  that  dislike  of  doubt  which  has  been  mentioned  as  an 
„    .  .   ,      obstacle  to  the  cultivation  of  an  habitual  love  of 

Iiove  of  onginal- 

'^y-  truth,  many  others  may  be  added  which  aug- 

ment the  difficulty.  In  many  it  is  the  desire  of  originality^ 
heightened  sometimes  into  the  love  of  paradox  that  pre-occu- 
pies  the  mind.  They  are  zealous  for  truth,  provided  it  be 
some  truth  brought  to  light  by  themselves.  There  are  some, 
accordingly,  who  have  been  right  where  prevailing  opinions 
are  erroneous,  and  erroneous  where  the  rest  of  the  world  think 
rightly.  And  such  persons  often  satisfy  themselves  that  they 
are  guarded  against  this  excess,  by  the  severity  of  their  judg- 
ments on  their  neighbor's  originality,  —  by  unsparing  rejection 
of  every  paradox,  and  every  novelty,  proceeding  from  another. 
A  crude  theory  or  opinion,  means,  in  their  language,  one  which 
(being  new)  has  not  first  occurred  to  themselves. 

3.  Others,  again,  and  they  are  more  numerous,  are  unduly 
Excessive  defer-     hiasscd  by  an  excessive  respect   for  venerated 

euce  for  authority.  authoHty,  —  by  au  uuduc  regard  for  any  belief 
that  is  ancient,  that  is  established,  that  is  reckoned  ortho- 
dox, that   has  been   maintained   by   eminent  men:  they   are 

1  Bacon.  2  Essay  on  the  Omission  of  Creeds,  etc.,  in  Scripture,  §  IX. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  41 

overpowered,  in  short,  by  the  argumentum  ad  verecundiam." 
I  mean  not,  of  course,  that  the  judgment  of  able  men,  and  that 
of  numerous  mdependent  authorities,  furnishes  no  valid  argu- 
ment ;  only,  that  it  should  not  supersede  argument,  —  that 
every  other  description  of  evidence  should  be  called  in,  and 
that  we  should  not  think  ourselves  bound  to  adopt  an  opinion 
merely  because  it  has  been  held  by  many  before  us.^  And 
some  are  so  biassed  by  authority,  that  they  not  only  admit 
carelessly  as  true  what  they  have  not  examined,  but  even  tol- 
erate a  considerable  admixture  of  what  they  themselves  perceive 
to  be  untrue.  "  I  had  rather  be  mistaken  in  company  with 
Plato,  than  hold  the  truth  along  with  those  men,"  ^  implies  no 
uncommon  kind  of  feeling. 

And,  moreover,  any  errors  which  have  long  and  extensively 
prevailed,  are  by  many  regarded  as  of  no  great  practical  con- 
sequence ;  because,  they  think,  if  these  had  led  to  any  ill  result, 
it  would  have  been  long  ago  manifest.  This  is  indeed  far  from 
being  universally  the  case ;  for  many  doctrinal  errors  do  lead 
to  practical  evils  which  are  not  referred,  even  by  those  who 
perceive  them,  to  the  causes  whence  they  sprung.^  Protes- 
tants, for  instance,  perceive  the  immoral  effects  which  naturally 
spring,  in  Romanist  countries,  from  the  doctrines  of  purgatory, 
indulgences,  image-worship,  etc. ;  but  a  sincere  Romanist, 
though  he  cannot  but  perceive  the  existence  of  many  of  these 
immoralities,  is  usually  altogether  blind  to  their  connection 
with  those  causes.  And  the  Protestant  who  wonders  at  this 
blindness,  is  perhaps  himself  equally  blind  in  some  similar  case. 
But  though,  as  has  been  said,  the  alleged  harmlessness  of  long- 
established  errors  is  in  general  very  rashly  inferred,  still  it 
commonly  is  inferred ;  and  there  are  not  a  few  who  have  more 

1  Essay  IV.  (Fourth  Series),  §  VIII. 

2  "  Errare  malo  cum  Platone,  quam  cum  istis  vera  sentire." 

3  See  Appendix  to  Essay  II.,  on  the  Kingdom  of  Christ. 

4* 


42  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

dread  of  anything  that  savors  of  novelty,  even  when  they  per- 
ceive nothing  objectionable  in  it,  than  of  what  is  generally 
received,  even  when  they  know  it  to  be  unsound.  And  hence, 
he  is  the  most  likely  to  be,  by  such  persons,  accounted  a  safe 
man,  not  whose  views  are  on  the  whole  the  most  reasonable, 
but  who  is  free  from  all  errors,  except  vulgar  errors. 

It  may  be  added,  that  the  desire  to  be  considered  "  or- 
thodox "  is  the  more  likely  to  mislead,  from  the  coincidence 
of  that  term,  etymologically,  with  rectitude  of  faith.  But, 
popularly,  when  a  man  is  spoken  of  as  "orthodox,"  this  is 
understood  to  imply  conformity  to  what  is  received  and  inain- 
iained  as  the  right  faith,  by  the  majority  of  the  most  influential 
theologians  of  the  age  and  country  in  which  he  lives,  or  in  which 
those  live  who  so  describe  him.  This  may,  indeed,  coincide 
perfectly  with  the  right  sense  of  Scripture ;  but  we  cannot  be 
sure  that  it  will  always  be  so,  unless  we  regard  those  theologians 
as  infallible.  These,  then,  must  be  made  the  standard  —  their 
mode  of  study  and  their  interpretations  followed  —  by  one  who 
is  bent  on  being  "  orthodox^  He,  again,  whose  great  object  is 
to  be  scriptural,  must  make  the  Scriptures  his  standard  ;  to  be 
studied  with  all  the  best  helps,  indeed,  that  he  can  obtain,  but 
with  a  thorough  devotion  to  his  object,  and  a  resolution  to 
sacrifice,  if  needful,  anything  and  everything  to  that. 

But  whichever  standard  a  man  adopts,  let  him  not  aim  at  the 
unattainable  object  of  "  serving  two  masters."  Let  him  not  say 
that  tlie  "  orthodox  "  and  the  "  scriptural "  are  not  adverse,  like 
"  God  and  mammon ;  "  which,  by  the  way,  are  not  necessarily 
adverse,  since  the  same  conduct  which  a  sense  of  Christian 
duty  suggests  will  often  conduce  to  wordly  prosperity  also.  It 
is  not  because  they  are  hostile,  and  necessarily  lead  different 
ways,  that  no  man  can  serve  two  masters ;  but  simply  because 
they  are  two,  and  not  one.  The  attempt  is  like  that  of  seeking 
to  make  both  gold  and  silver  the  standard  of  currency.     Their 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  43 

relative  values  vary  but  seldom,  and  vary  slightly ;  but  the 
slightest  variation  throws  all  accounts  into  confusion,  if  we 
attempt  to  make  both  a  standard. 

In  proportion  as  pure  religion  prevails  in  any  age  or  coun- 
try, the  "orthodox"  and  the  "scriptural"  approach  towards 
coincidence,  and  the  adherents  of  the  two,  respectively,  ap- 
proach in  respect  of  the  doctrines  themselves  which  they  hold. 
But  still  they  go  on  different  principles^  like  one  man  going 
by  the  clock,  and  another  by  the  sun-dial ;  and  he  who  aims 
at  conforming  to  each  of  tioo  standards,  is  "  a  double-minded 
man,"  and  will  be  "  unstable  in  all  his  ways." 

The  temptation  to  fall  into  this  snare  is  one  which  calls  for 
more  vigilance,  in  one  respect,  than  a  temptation  to  do  any- 
thing that  is  in  itself  manifestly  wrong,  and  which  ought  to 
be  avoided  altogether.  For,  agreement  in  faith  with  those 
around  us,  it  would  be  as  wrong  to  shun  as  to  seek  ;  and  it  is  so 
manifestly  desirable,  in  point  of  present  comfort  and  conven- 
ience, that  no  one  can  be  censured  for  rejoicing  to  find  himself 
so  situated  without  any  sacrifice  of  principle.  Now  it  is  difficult 
for  a  man  to  keep  himself  from  seeking  for  that  which  he  can- 
not help  wishing  for ;  aiming  at  that  which  he  feels  he  would 
rejoice  at.  And  as  soon  as  he  does  this  —  as  soon  as  his  efforts 
are  directed  the  same  way  as  his  wishes  —  he  has  immediately 
begun  to  set  up  a  new  standard,  and  is  trying  to  serve  two 
masters. 

The  two  faults  which  have  been  just  noticed  —  the  endeavor 
after  originality  and  after  orthodoxy  ;  that  is,  a  certain  de- 
gree of  each  —  are  not  unfrequently  combined.  The  hasty 
adoption  of  striking  novelties  on  some  occasions,  is  not  incom- 
patible with  a  blind  adherence  to  the  received  doctrine  on 
others.  All  men  have  been  told  that  wisdom  consists  in  pre- 
serving a  middle  course  between  opposite  extremes ;  and  the 
weak,   the   uncandid,   and   the   unthinking  often  congratulate 


44  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

themselves  on  having  attained  this  happy  medium,  by  the 
mimic  wisdom  of  sliding  alternately  into  each  extreme.  True 
wisdom  would  tell  us  not  to  receive  one  opinion  because  it  is 
old,  and  another  because  it  is  new  ;  but  to  receive  and  reject 
none  on  either  ground,  and  to  inquire  sedulously,  in  each  case, 
what  is  true. 

It  may  be  added  that  some  men  are  apt  to  aim  at  preserving 
the  proper  medium  by  keeping  themselves  at  an  equal  distance 
from  each  extreme.  "  Men  are  apt  to  look  to  those  who,  on 
each  side,  hold  the  most  extreme  opinions,  or  practically  carry 
some  principle  to  the  greatest  excess,  and  then,  resolving  to  be 
led  by  neither,  think  to  preserve  the  most  perfect  moderation  ; 
to  attain  the  true  'via  media^  by  keeping  themselves  equi- 
distant from  both.  If  in  each  point  they  are  as  far  removed 
from  the  extremes  of  one  party  as  of  another,  they  conclude 
that  they  are  steering  the  right  course  between  them. 

"But  such  persons,  instead  of  being  led  by  neither  party, 
are  more  properly  described  as  being  led  by  both.  The  real 
medium  of  rectitude  is  not  to  be  attained  by  geometrical  mea- 
surement. The  varieties  of  human  error  have  no  power  to  fix 
the  exact  place  of  truth.  On  the  contrary,  it  happens  in  re- 
spect of  religion,  as  well  as  in  all  other  subjects,  that  each 
party  will  maintain  some  things  that  are  perfectly  true  and 
right,  and  others  that  are  wholly  wrong  and  mischievous  ;  and 
that  in  other  points,  again,  the  one  party  or  the  other  will  be 
much  the  more  remote  from  the  truth  :  so  tliat  any  one  who 
studies  to  keep  himself  in  every  point  just  half  way  between 
two  contending  parties,  will  probably  be  as  often  in  the  wrong 
as  either  of  them. 

"  And  this  caution  is  the  more  important,  because  it  will 
often  happen  that  the  truth,  and  the  error,  of  any  party,  will 
be  found  intimately  blended  together  in  respect  of  each  single 
point  of  doctrine ;  so  that  the  one  party,  and  their  opponents 


ox  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  45 

also,  will  be,  each,  quite  right  in  one  respect,  and  utterly  wrong 
in  another."  ^ 

It  is  a  truism,  but  one  often  practically  forgotten,  that  there 
is  710  medium  between  truth  and  falsehood.  When,  indeed, 
opposite  errors  are  held  by  two  parties,  the  truth  will  lie  some- 
where between  them  ;  but  when  —  as  is  often  the  case  —  a  true 
view  of  some  point  is  taken  by  one  of  them  and  opposed  by  the 
other,  to  aim  at  the  mean  will  be  in  fact  seeking  a  mean  be- 
tween truth  and  falsehood.  There  may  be  a  medium  indeed 
between  that  truth  and  the  particular  error  maintained  by  some 
particular  party  ;  but  this  "  via  media  "  will  of  course  be  itself 
erroneous. 

4.  I  have  elsewhere  noticed  a  kind  of  false  humility,  by 
aiming  at  which  some  are  drawn  aside  from  the  pursuit  of  truth. 
"  The  pride  of  human  reason  "  is  a  phrase  very  much  in  the 
mouth  of  some  persons,  who  seem  to  think  they  are  effectually 
humbling  themselves  by  an  excessive  distrust  of  all  exercise  of 
the  intellect,  while  they  resign  themselves  freely  to  the  guid- 
ance of  what  they  call  the  heart ;  that  is,  their  prejudices, 
passions,  inclinations,  and  fancies.  But  the  feelings  are  as 
much  a  part  of  mans  constitution  as  his  reason :  every  part  of 
our  nature  will  equally  lead  us  wrong,  if  operating  uncon- 
trolled. If  a  man  employs  his  reason,  not  in  ascertaining  what 
God  has  revealed  in  Scripture,  but  in  conjecturing  what  might 
be,  or  ought  to  be  the  divine  dispensations,  he  is  employing 
his  reason  wrongly,  and  will  err  accordingly.  But  this  is  not 
the  only  source  of  error.  He  who,  to  avoid  this,  gives  up  the 
use  of  his  reason,  and  believes  or  disbelieves,  adopts  or  rejects, 
according  to  what  suits  his  feelings,  taste,  will,  and  fancy,  is  no 
less  an  idolater  of  himself  than  the  other ;  his  feelings,  etc., 
being  a  part  of  himself  no  less  than  his  reason.^  We  may,  if 
we  please,  call  the  one  of  these  a  "  Rationalist,"  and  the  other 

1  Charge  of  1843.  2  See  Logic,  Appendix  III. 


46  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

an  "  Irrationalist ; "  but  there  is  as  much  of  the  pride  of  self- 
idolatrj  in  the  one  as  in  the  other.  The  Greeks  and  Romans 
were  indeed  wretched  idolaters  in  their  adoration  of  the  beau- 
tiful statues  of  Jupiter  and  Minerva ;  but  the  Egyptians,  who 
adored  those  of  an  ox  and  a  hawk,  were  not  the  less  idolaters. 
The  Jews,  relying  on  the  decision  of  learned  rabbis,  and  the 
Pythagorean,  who  yielded  implicit  reverence  to  the  dictates  of 
the  sage,  did  not  more  exalt  man  into  an  oracle,  in  the  place 
of  God,  than  the  Mussulmans,  who  pay  a  like  reverence  to 
idiots  and  madmen.  Each  part  of  our  nature  should  be  duly 
controlled,  and  kept  within  its  own  proper  province ;  and  the 
whole  "brought  into  subjection  to  Christ,"  and  dedicated  to 
him.  But  there  is  no  real  Christian  humility,  though  there  be 
debasement,  in  renouncing  the  exercise  of  human  reason  to 
follow  the  dictates  of  human  feeling.  The  apostle's  precept  is, 
"  In  malace  be  ye  children  ;  but  in  understanding  be  ye  men." 
The  error  I  have  been  adverting  to  is  worthy  of  notice  only 
from  the  plausibility  it  derives  from  the  authority  of  some 
persons  who  really  do  possess  cultivated  intellectual  powers ; 
and  therefore,  when  they  declaim  on  the  pride  of  human  rea- 
son, are  understood  not  to  be  disparaging  an  advantage  of 
which  they  are  destitute.  They  appear  voluntarily  divesting 
themselves  of  what  many  would  feel  a  pride  in  ;  and  thus  often 
conceal  from  others,  as  well  as  from  themselves,  the  spiritual 
pride  with  which  they  not  only  venerate  their  own  feelings  and 
prejudices,  but  even  load  with  anathemas  all  who  presume  to 
dissent  from  them.  It  is  a  prostration,  not  of  man's  self  before 
God,  but  of  one  part  of  himself  before  another.  This  kind  of 
humiliation  is  hke  the  idolatry  of  the  Israelites  in  the  wilder- 
ness :  "  The  people  stripped  themselves  of  their  golden  ornaments 
that  were  upon  them,  and  cast  them  into  the  fire ;  and  there 
came  forth  this  calf."^     We  ought  to  remember  that  the  disci- 

1  Note  to  a  Charge  of  1836. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  47 

pies  were  led  by  the  dictates  of  a  sound  understanding  to  say, 
"  No  man  can  do  these  miracles  that  thou  doest,  except  God  be 
with  him,"  and  thence,  to  believe  and  trust  and  obey  Jesus 
implicitly ;  but  that  Peter  was  led  by  his  heart  —  that  is,  his  incli- 
nations and  prejudices  —  to  say,  "  Be  it  far  from  thee,  Lord  ! 
there  shall  no  such  thing  happen  unto  thee." 

5.  It  is  to  be  remembered  also  that  the  intellectual  powers 
are  sometimes  pressed  into  the  service,  as  it  were,  of  the  feel- 
ings, and  that  a  man  may  be  thus  misled,  in  a  great  measure, 
through  his  own  ingenuity.  Any  one  who  possesses  consider- 
able ability,  is  able,  as  is  well  known,  to  make  up  a  plausible 
defence  of  some  unsound  theory  or  unjustifiable  measure. 
"  Depend  on  it,"  said  a  shrewd  observer,  when  inquired  of 
what  was  to  be  expected  from  a  certain  man  who  had  been 
appointed  to  some  high  office,  and  of  whose  intelligence  he 
thought  more  favorably  than  of  his  uprightness,  —  "  depend 
on  it,  he  will  never  take  any  step  that  is  bad,  without  having  a 
very  good  reason  for  it."  Now  it  is  common  to  warn  men  — 
and  they  are  generally  ready  enough  to  take  the  warning  — 
against  being  thus  misled  by  the  ingenuity  of  another ;  but  a 
person  of  more  than  ordinary  learning  and  ability,  needs  to  be 
carefully  on  his  guard  against  being  misled  by  his  own. 
Though  conscious  perhaps  of  his  own  power  to  dress  up  spe- 
ciously a  bad  cause,  or  an  extravagant  and  fanciful  theory,  he  is 
conscious  also  of  a  corresponding  power  to  distinguish  sound 
reasoning  from  sophistry.  But  this  will  not  avail  to  protect 
him  from  convincing  himself  by  ingenious  sophistry  of  his  own, 
if  he  has  allowed  himself  to  adopt  some  conclusion  which 
pleases  his  imagination,  or  favors  some  passion  or  self-interest. 
His  own  superior  intelligence  will  then  be,  as  I  have  said, 
pressed  into  the  service  of  his  inclinations.  It  is,  indeed,  no 
feeble  blow  that  will  suffice  to  destroy  a  giant ;  but  if  a  giant 
resolves  to  commit  suicide,  it  is  a  giant  that  deals  the  blow. 


48  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

A  man  is  in  danger,  therefore,  —  the  more  in  proportion  to 
his  abilities,  —  of  exercising  on  himself,  when  under  the  influ- 
ence of  some  passion,  a  most  pernicious  oratorical  power,  by 
pleading  the  cause,  as  it  were,  before  himself,  of  that  passion. 
Suppose  it  anger,  for  example,  that  he  is  feeling  :  he  is  naturally 
disposed  to  dwell  on  and  amplify  the  aggravating  circumstances 
of  the  supposed  provocation,  so  as  to  make  out  a  good  case  for 
himself ;  a  representation  such  as  may,  or  might,  if  needed, 
serve  to  vindicate  him  in  the  eyes  of  a  bystander,  and  to  give 
him  the  advantage  in  a  controversy.  This  of  course  tends  to 
heighten  his  resentment,  and  to  satisfy  him  that  he  "  doeth  well 
to  be  angry ; "  or  perhaps  to  persuade  him  that  he  is  not  an- 
gry, but  is  a  model  of  patience  under  intolerable  wrongs.  And 
the  man  of  superior  ingenuity  and  eloquence  will  do  this  more 
skilfully  than  an  ordinary  man,  and  will  thence  be  likely  to  be 
the  more  effectually  self-deceived ;  for  though  he  may  be  supe- 
rior to  the  other  in  judgment,  as  well  as  in  ingenuity,  it  is  to 
be  remembered  that  while  his  judgment  is  likely  to  be,  in  his 
own  cause,  biassed,  and  partially  blinded,  his  ingenuity  is 
called  forth  to  the  utmost. 

And  the  like  takes  place  if  it  be  selfish  cupidity,  unjust  par- 
tiality in  favor  of  a  relative  or  friend,  party  spirit,  or  any  other 
passion  that  may  be  operating.  For,  universally,  men  are  too 
apt  to  take  more  pains  in  justifying  their  propensities,  than  it 
would  cost  to  control  them ;  and  a  man  of  superior  powers 
will  often  be  in  this  way  entrapped  by  his  own  ingenuity,  like 
a  spider  entangled  in  the  web  she  has  herself  spun.  Most 
persons  are  fearful,  even  to  excess,  of  being  misled  by  the 
eloquence  of  another^;  but  an  ingenious  reasoner  ought  to  be 

1 1  have  known  a  man  accordingly  shun  the  acquaintance  of  another,  of 
whom  he  knew  no  harm,  solely  from  his  dread  of  him  as  a  man  who,  he  im- 
agined, "  could  prove  anything."  Men  of  a  low  tone  of  morality,  judging 
from  themselves,  take  for  granted  that  whoever  "  has  a  giant's  strength,"  will 
not  scruple  to  "  use  it  like  a  giant." 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  49 

especially  fearful  of  his  own.  There  is  no  one  whom  he  is 
likely  so  much,  and  so  hurtfully  to  mislead,  as  himself,  if  he  be 
not  sedulously  on  his  guard  against  this  self-deceit. 

6.  The  greatest,  however,  of  all  the  obstacles  to  the  habit 
of  following  truth,  is  the  tendency  to  look  in  the  yie^g  of  expe- 
first  instance  to  the  expedient.  Expediency  '^'^"'^y- 
does  not,  in  reality,  stand  opposed  to  truth,  except  when  made 
its  rival  for  precedence ;  but  while  the  genuine  lover  of  truth 
always  regards  that  as  the  only  sure  road  to  the  expedient, 
the  generality  of  men  look  out  first  for  w^hat  is  expedient,  and 
are  contented  if  they  can  afterwards  reconcile  that  (which,  with 
a  biassed  mind,  they  are  very  likely  to  accomplish)  with  a 
conviction  of  truth.  And  this  is  the  sin  which  most  easily 
besets  those  who  are  engaged  in  the  instruction  of  others  ;  and 
it  besets  them  the  more  easily,  inasmuch  as  the  consciousness 
of  falsehood,  even  if  it  exist  in  the  outset,  will  very  soon  wear 
away.  He  who  does  not  begin  by  preaching  what  he  thor- 
oughly believes,  will  speedily  end  by  believing  what  he  preaches. 
His  habit  of  discriminating  the  true  from  the  false,  the  well- 
established  from  the  doubtful,  will  soon  decay  for  want  of 
assiduous  exercise ;  and  thus  inured  to  the  practice  of  dispens- 
ing with  complete  sincerity  for  the  sake  of  supposed  utility, 
and  accustomed  to  support  true  conclusions  by  any  premises 
that  offer,  he  will  soon  lose,  through  this  faulty  practice,  even 
the  power  of  distinguishing  what  conclusions  are  true.^ 

§  V.     The  temptations  to  this  fault  are  so  great,  the  occur- 
rence of  it  so  frequent,  and  the  mischief  of  it  so       cautionary  max- 
incalculable,  that  I  cannot,  perhaps,  better  close     """' 
these  remarks  than  by  classing,  under  a  few  comprehensive 
heads,  the  cautions  to  be  observed  in  avoiding  it. 

1  Essay  111.  (Third  Series)  §  VI. 

5 


50  WHATELYS  ESSAYS. 

1.  First,  then,   one   who  would  cherish  in  himself  an   at- 
No  unfair  argu-     tachment   to  truth,  must   never   allow  himself 

ment  to  be  used.  either  to  advauce  any  argument,  or  to  admit  and 
acquiesce  in  any  when  advanced  by  another,  which  he  knows 
or  suspects  to  be  unsound  or  fallacious ;  however  true  the 
conclusion  may  be  to  which  it  leads,  however  convincing 
the  argument  may  be  to  those  it  is  addressed  to,  and  how- 
ever important  it  may  be  that  they  should  be  convinced.  It 
springs  from,  and  it  will  foster  and  increase,  a  want  of  ven- 
eration for  truth.  It  is  an  ajBfront  put  on  "  the  Spirit  of  truth ;  " 
it  is  a  hiring  of  the  idolatrous  Syrians  to  fight  the  battles  of 
the  Lord  God  of  Israel.  And  it  is  on  this  ground  that  we 
should  adhere  to  the  most  scrupulous  fairness  of  statement  and 
argument.  He  who  believes  that  sophistry  will  always  in  the 
end  prove  injurious  to  the  cause  supported  by  it,  is  probably 
right  in  that  belief ;  but  if  it  be  for  that  reason  that  he  ab- 
stains from  it,  —  if  he  avoid  fallacy,  wholly  or  partly,  through 
fear  of  detection,  —  it  is  plain  he  is  no  sincere  votary  of  truth. 

2.  On  the  same  principle  we  are  bound  never  to  counte- 
Nor  erroneous  no-     naucc  any  crroucous  opinion,  however  seemingly 

tion  countenanced,  beneficial  in  its  rcsults,  —  to  connive  at  no  sal- 
utary delusion  (as  it  may^  appear),  but  to  open  the  eyes  (when 
opportunity  offers,  and  in  proportion  as  it  offers)  of  those  we 
are  instructing  to  any  mistake  they  may  labor  under,  though 
it  may  be  one  which  leads  them  ultimately  to  a  true  result, 
and  to  one  of  which  apparently  they  might  otherwise  fail. 
The  temptation,  accordingly,  to  depart  from  this  principle,  is 
sometimes  excessively  strong ;  because  it  will  often  be  the 
case  that  men  will  be  in  some  danger,  in  parting  with  a  long- 
admitted  error,  of  abandoning  at  the  same  time  some  truth  they 
have  been  accustomed  to  connect  with  it.  Accordingly  I  have 
heard  censure  passed  on  the  endeavors  to  enlighten  the  adher- 

1  See  Essay  HI.  (Third  Series)  $  HI. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  51 

ents  of  some  erroneous  churches,  on  the  ground  that  many  of 
them  thence  become  atheists,  and  many  the  wildest  of  fanatics. 
That  this  should  have  been  in  some  instances  the  case,  is 
highly  probable  :  it  is  a  natural  result  of  the  pernicious  effects 
on  the  mind  of  any  system  of  blind,  unmquiring  acquiescence. 
Such  a  system  is  an  evil  spirit,  which  we  must  expect  will 
cruelly  rend  and  mangle  the  patient  as  it  comes  out  of  liim, 
and  will  leave  him  half  dead  at  its  departure. 

Again,  the  belief  in  the  plenary  inspiration  of  Scripture,  — 
its  being  properly  and  literally  the  "  Word  of  God,"  merely 
uttered  or  committed  to  writing  by  the  sacred  penman,  in  the 
very  words  supematurally  dictated  to  them,  and  the  consequent 
belief  in  its  complete  and  universal  infallibility,  not  only  on 
religious,  but  also  on  historical  and  philosophical  points, — 
these  notions,  which  prevail  among  a  large  portion  of 
Christians,  are  probably  encouraged  or  connived  at  by  very 
many  of  those  who  do  not,  or  at  least  did  not  originally,  in 
their  own  hearts,  entertain  any  such  belief.  But  they  dread 
"  the  unsettling  of  men's  minds ; "  they  fear  that  they  would  be 
unable  to  distinguish  what  is,  and  what  is  not,  matter  of  inspi- 
ration ;  and,  consequently,  that  their  reverence  for  Scripture 
and  for  religion  altogether  would  be  totally  destroyed :  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  error  they  urge  is  very  harmless  — 
leading  to  no  practical  evil,  but  rather  to  piety  of  life. 

Incredible  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  a  fact  that  objections  have 
been  made  to  the  removal  of  the  vulgar  error  of  regarding  the 
chapters  and  verses  as  divisions  made  by  the  sacred  writers 
themselves.  Much  indistinctness  and  confusion  of  thought 
have  often  arisen  from  the  practice  of  reading  each  chapter  as 
a  distinct  treatise,  or  branch  of  a  treatise ;  though  a  chapter,  in 
fact,  often  begins  in  the  middle  of  an  argument,  or  even  of  a 
sentence.  But  it  was  urged  that  it  would  "unsettle  men's 
minds  "  to  undeceive  them. 


52  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

On  a  like  principle  I  have  known  some  pious  persons  object 
to  any  alteration  of  those  passages  of  our  (in  general  excellent) 
version  of  the  Bible,  in  which  they  admit  that  our  translators 
have  mistaken  the  sense  of  the  original.  It  has  a  tendency, 
they  think,  to  "  unsettle  the  mind  of  the  vulgar, "  who  had  better 
be  left  to  receive  the  Bible  —  that  is,  our  authorized  version  of 
it  —  as  the  word  of  God,  without  any  suspicion  of  the  possibility 
of  error  in  any  passage  they  read ;  since  if  once  (it  is  urged) 
they  doubt  the  infallibility  of  our  translators,  they  may  go  on 
to  doubt  whether  this,  and  that,  or  any  passage  of  Scripture 
may  not  be  mistranslated ;  till  at  length  the  Bible  will  be,  to 
them,  no  revelation  at  all. 

This  procedure  is  of  a  piece  with  that  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  in  pronouncing  the  infallibility  of  the  Vulgate  version : 
a  step  which  proved  a  convenience  for  the  moment,  and  has 
placed  them  in  a  dilemma  ever  since ;  either  the  admission,  or 
the  denial,  of  any  error  in  the  Vulgate,  being  equally  dangerous 
to  the  church's  claim  of  infallibility.  The  inexpediency,  in 
the  end,  of  our  proceeding  on  such  a  principle  in  respect  of 
our  translation,  is  to  me  very  clear  ;  but  I  despair  of  explaining 
it  to  the  satisfaction  of  any  one  who  chooses  to  try  the  ques- 
tion on  that  ground.  To  any  one  who  is  resolved  to  follow 
honesty  for  its  own  sake,  it  may  easily  be  made  to  appear,  in 
this  case,  that  it  is  the  best  policy  also.^ 

And  doubtless  such  feelings  as  I  have  been  alluding  to 
had  a  share  in  inducing  the  Roman  Catholics  to  retain  the 
Apocrypha  in  their  Bible.  Many  of  the  learned  among  them 
must  surely  have  known  that  these  books  have  no  title  to  be 
considered  as  part  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  "  but  they  are  on 
the  whole,"  they  may  have  thought,  "rather  edifying  than 
hurtful,  and  to  reject  them  might  shake  men's  faith  in  the 
whole  of  Scripture."     The  same  reasoning  probably  operates 

1  See  Easy  Lessons  on  Christian  Evidences.    Lesson  III. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  53 

with  many  of  them  to  induce  them  to  maintain  the  infallibility 
of  the  church,  the  authority  of  their  traditions,  etc.  Indeed, 
the  fault  I  have  been  speaking  of  is  of  the  very  essence  of  a 
system  of  "pious  frauds."  Would  that  Protestants  did  not 
so  readily  flatter  themselves  that  their  separation  from  the 
Church  of  Rome  exempts  them  from  all  danger  of  errors  like 
hers! 

There  is  a  strong  temptation,  again,  to  foster  or  connive  at 
the  popular  error  of  expecting  under  the  Christian  dispensation 
those  temporal  rewards  and  punishments  which  form  no  part 
of  the  system ;  a  mistake  which  no  doubt  has  often  produced 
partial  good  results,  and  which  there  will  often  be,  and  oftener 
appear  to  be,  danger  in  removing.^ 

Of  the  same  character  is  the  belief  that  the  moral  precepts 
of  the  Levitical  law  are  (on  the  authority  of  that  law)  binding 
on  Christians ;  and  that  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  day  is  a 
duty  to  which  they  are  bound  by  the  fourth  commandment.^ 
Though  the  desired  conclusions  may  in  these  and  similar  cases 
be  reached  by  the  paths  of  truth,  there  will  be  an  apparent, 
and  sometimes  a  real  danger  that  those  who  have  been  long 
used  to  act  rightly  on  erroneous  principles,  may  fail  of  those  con- 
clusions when  undeceived.  In  such  cases  it  requires  a  thorough 
love  of  truth,  and  a  firm  reliance  on  divine  support,  to  adhere 
steadily  to  the  straight  course. 

3.  A  like  danger  will  often  be  our  appointed  trial  in  the 

1  See  Discourse  on  National  Blessings  and  Judgments. 

2  Of  course  I  am  not  at  present  alluding  to  those  who,  after  a  full  and  candid 
examination,  are  themselves  convinced  of  this;  whose  sincere  and  deliberate 
belief  is  that  the  fourth  commandment  does  extend  to  Christians,  but  that  it  is 
Buflaciently  obeyed  by  the  observance  of  i\xQ  first  day  of  the  week  instead  of  the 
seventh  ;  or  that  the  precise  directions  of  an  express  command  of  Scripture, 
which  is  admitted  to  be  binding  on  us,  may  allowably  be  altered  by  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  church.  Though  I  cannot  but  regard  such  views  as  erroneous,  the 
error  does  not  belong  to  the  class  now  under  discussion.  See  Thoughts  on  the 
Sabbath. 

5* 


54  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

converse  case  also ;  in  firmly  resolving  to  suppress  no  clearly- 
revealed  gospel  truth,  through  apprehension  of  ill  consequences. 
Then  only  can  we  be  "  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men,"  if  we 
"  have  not  shunned  to  set  before  them  all  the  counsel  of  God." 
He  did,  indeed,  himself  think  fit  to  hide  for  many  ages,  under 
the  veil  of  the  Levitical  law,  the  coming  of  the  Messiah's 
kingdom ;  and  it  is  but  a  small  part,  probably,  of  the  great 
scheme  of  redemption  that  he  has  as  yet  imparted  to  us ;  but 
he  has  not  authorized  man  to  suppress  any  part  of  what  he 
has  revealed ;  and  it  is  an  impious  presumption  even  to  inquire 
into  the  expediency  of  such  a  procedure. 

4.  Lastly,  as  we   must   not   dare   to  withhold   or  disguise 
revealed  reliqious  truth,  so  we  must  dread  the 

No  dread  to  be  J  ^ 

entertained  of  the     progrcss  of  no  Other  truth.     We  must  not  imi- 

progress  of  science.  -,       ■,  .  ■,  •,  .  t  i.  •  t/->.t 

tate  the  bigoted  hierarchy  who  imprisoned  Gali- 
leo, and  step  forward,  Bible  in  hand  (Uke  the  profane  Israelites 
carrying  the  Ark  of  God  into  the  field  of  battle),  to  check  the 
inquiries  of  the  geologist,  the  astronomer,  or  the  political  econ- 
omist, from  an  apprehension  that  the  cause  of  religion  can  be 
endangered  by  them.^  Any  theory,  on  whatever  subject,  that 
is  really  sound,  can  never  be  inimical  to  a  religion  founded  on 
truth ;  and  any  that  is  unsound  may  be  refuted  by  arguments 
drawn  from  observation  and  experiment,  without  calling  in  the 
aid  of  revelation.  If  we  give  way  to  a  dread  of  danger  from 
the  inculcation  of  any  scriptural  doctrine,  or  from  the  progress 
of  physical  or  moral  science,  we  manifest  a  want  of  faith  in 
God's  power,  or  in  his  will,  to  maintain  his  own  cause.  That 
we  shall  indeed  best  further  his  cause  by  fearless  perseverance 
in  an  open  and  straight  course,  I  am  firmly  persuaded ;  but  it 
is  not  only  when  we  perceive  the  mischiefs  of  falsehood  and 
disguise,  and  the  beneficial  tendency  of  fairness  and  candor, 
that  we  are  to  be  followers  of  truth.     The  trial  of  our  faith  is 

I  See  First  Lectures  on  Political  Economy. 


ox  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH. 


55 


when  we  cminot  perceive  this  ;  and  the  part  of  a  lover  of  truth 
is  to  follow  her  at  all  seeming  hazards,  after  the  example  of 
Him  who  "  came  into  the  world  that  He  might  bear  witness  to 
the  truth. "  ^ 

No  one,  in  fact,  is  capable  of  fully  appreciating  the  ultimate 
expediency  of  a  devoted  adherence  to  truth  in  all  that  relates 
to  the  Christian  rehgion,  except  the  divine  Author  of  it ;  be- 
cause he  alone  comprehends  the  whole  of  that  vast  and  imper- 
fectly revealed  scheme  of  Providence,  and  alone  can  see  the 
inmost  recesses  of  the  human  heart,  and  alone  can  foresee  and 
judge  of  the  remotest  consequences  of  human  actions.  And 
much  of  the  good  policy  of  the  course  I  have  been  recommend- 
ing, which  can  be  perceived  by  those  of  more  cultivated  minds, 
is  beyond  the  comprehension  of  a  great  majority  of  mankind. 
The  expediency  of  truth  can  be  estimated  by  few ;  but  its  intrin- 

1  "  He  came  to  establish  a  kingdom  of  truth;  that  is,  not  a  kingdom  whose 
subjects  should  embrace  on  compulsion  what  is  in  itself  true,  and  consequently 
should  be  adherents  of  truth  by  accident,  but  a  kingdom  whose  subjects  should 
have  been  admitted  as  such  in  consequence  of  their  being  '  of  the  truth; '  that  is, 
men  honestly  disposed  to  embrace  and  '  obey  the  truth,'  whatever  it  might  be, 
that  God  should  reveal,  agreeably  to  what  our  Lord  has  elsewhere  declared, 
that '  if  any  man  will  do  (SiiXei,  is  willing  to  do)  the  will  of  my  Father,  he  shall 
know  of  the  doctrine,'  etc. 

"  To  any  persons  who  are  not  '  of  the  truth,'  in  the  above  sense;  that  is,  who, 
though  they  believe  (as  every  one  does)  many  things  that  are  true,  yet  have  not 
heartily  set  themselves,  with  perfect  candor  and  self-devotion,  to  ascertain  as  far 
as  possible,  and  to  obey  at  all  hazards,  God's  truth,  — to  such  persons  these 
views  will  of  course  be  likely  to  appear  strange  and  fanciful,  perplexing,  and 
perhaps  offensive ;  and  they  will  accordingly  seek  for  some  different  interpreta- 
tion. 

"  But  when  they  explain  Christ's  declaration  of  his  having  '  come  into  the 
world  to  bear  witness  of  the  truth,'  in  some  sense  in  itself  intelligible,  but  quite 
unconnected  with  the  inquiry  he  was  answering  as  to  his  being  '  a  king,'  they 
forget  that  what  he  said  must  have  had  not  only  some  meaning,  but  some  mean- 
ing pertinent  to  the  occasion;  and  this  they  seem  as  much  at  a  loss  for  as  Piiate 
himself,  who  exclaimed,  'What  is  truth?'  not  from  being  ignorant  of  the 
meaning  of  the  word,  but  from  perceiving  no  connection  between  '  truth  '  and 
the  inquiry  respecting  the  claim  to  regal  office."  —  Essay  I.  on  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ,  §  IX. 


56  WHATELT'S  ESSAYS. 

sic  loveliness,  by  all.  None  are  precluded,  by  want  of  intel- 
lectual power  and  culture,  from  that  undoubting  faith  and  firm 
reliance  on  their  great  Master  which  will  lead  them  to  aim  at 
truth  out  of  veneration  to  him  ;  to  reject  disguise,  and  sophistry, 
and  equivocation,  at  once,  as  hateful  to  him,  without  stopping 
to  inquire  what  further  evil  they  may  lead  to. 

And  it  is  no  more  than  needful  that  those  who  act  thus  should 
Human  appro-  havc  a  morc  than  common  assurance  of  His 
bSrwed"!!:  approbation;  for  they  mU  often  fail  of  tliat 
lover  Of  truth.  of  their  fcUow-men.    Besides  being  occasionally 

censured  as  rash  and  mischievous,  they  will  constantly  find  a 
want  of  sympathy  in  those  (and  they,  I  fear,  are  a  majority) 
whose  character  is,  in  this  point,  opposite.  They  may  be 
valued  indeed  by  many  persons  for  other  good  qualities ;  but 
that  zealous,  thorough-going  love  of  truth  which  I  have  been 
describing,  is  very  seldom  admired,  or  liked,  or  indeed  under- 
stood, except  by  those  who  possess  it.  Courage,  liberality, 
activity,  etc.,  are  often  highly  prized  by  those  who  do  not  pos- 
sess them  in  any  great  degree  ;  but  the  quality  I  am  speaking 
of,  is,  by  those  deficient  in  it,  either  not  perceived  where  it 
exists,  or  perceived  only  as  an  excess  and  extravagance. 

"  There  is  nothing  covered,"  however,  "  that  shall  not  be 
revealed ;  nor  hid,  that  shall  not  be  known."  And  the  gen- 
uine and  fearless  lover  of  truth,  who  has  sought,  not  the 
praise  of  men,  but  the  praise  of  God  "  who  seeth  in  secret,"  shall 
be  "  sanctified  through  his  truth "  here,  and  by  him  "  be 
rewarded  openly  "  hereafter. 


ON  THE  LOVE  OF  TRUTH.  57 


NOTE  TO  ESSAY  I. 


Note  A  —  Page  26. 

Something  may  be  inculcated  at  one  time,  and  not  at  another, 
either  from  its  being  true  at  the  one  time  and  not  at  another ;  or, 
again,  from  its  being  needful  to  be  set  forth  at  one  time,  and  not  at 
another.  But  this  distinction,  though  obvious  when  stated,  is,  in 
practice,  often  overlooked. 

For  instance,  from  the  omission  in  the  Apostles'  Creed  of  all 
mention  of  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  and  of  the  Atonement,  some  have 
inferred  that  the  doctrines  were  not,  at  the  time  that  Creed  was 
framed,  believed  as  true.  But  the  proper  inference  is,  that  they 
were  omitted  because  they  were  not,  at  that  time,  doubted;  the 
earliest  heresies  having  had  reference  to  quite  different  points.  We 
should  not  expect  to  find  in  a  symbol  any  notice  of  articles  of  faith 
hitherto  uncontroverted.  In  later  symbols,  the  mention  of  these 
doctrines  was  called  forth  by  the  heresies  which  subsequently  arose. 

On  the  other  hand,  Christ's  disclaimer  of  a  temporal  kingdom 
was  evidently  called  forth  at  that  particular  time  by  the  circumstan- 
ces of  his  trial  before  Pilate  ;  but  it  would  be  monstrous  to  sup- 
pose that  those  circumstances  would  have  induced  him  to  make  a 
declaration  that  was  not  true,  —  to  give  a  description  of  his  king- 
dom different  from  what  really  belonged  to  it,  or  from  what  he 
de?igned  it  to  become.  And  yet  many,  even  of  the  early  Christian 
emperors,  were  urged  to  put  down  idolatry  and  heresy  by  the  civil 
sword.*  Jesus  had  indeed  forbidden  his  disciples  to  draw  the 
sword  in  his  cause,  or  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven  on  those  who 
rejected  him ;  and  had  declared  his  kingdom  to  be  "  not  of  this 
world ; "  and  his  first  followers  had  propagated  his  religion  by 
gentle  persuasion,  "  not  rendering  evil  for  evil,"  "  but  in  meekne^^s 
instructing  them  that  oppose  themselves."  But  then  it  was  replied 
that  such  a  procedure  was  suited    only  to  the  first  beginnings  of 

1  *'  Xot  more  than  twenty  years  after  Constantine's  entire  possession  of  the 
empire.  .Julius  Firmicus  Maternus  calls  upon  the  Emperors  Constantius  and 
Constans  to  extirpate  the  relics  of  the  ancient  religion  ;  .  .  .  .  modicum  tautum 
superest,  ut  legibus  vestris  ....  extincta  idololatriae  pereat  funesta  contagio." 
—  Paley'8  Evidences,  Part  II.  chap.  9. 


58  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

Christianity ;  that  the  earliest  disciples  had  no  power,  -when  as  yet 
magistrates  and  kings  were  not  arrayed  on  their  side/  forcibly  to 
suppress  idolatry ;  and  that  our  Lord's  language  to  Pilate,  and  his 
rejection  of  the  attempts  to  make  Him  a  king,  had  reference  to  the 
then  prevailing  expectations  of  a  temporal  Messiah.  Now  there  was 
undoubtedly  this  expectation  of  an  anointed  Son  of  David,  who 
should  reign  in  bodily  person  over  the  Jews,  and  should  bestow  on 
his  followers  not  only  the  spiritual  blessings  relating  to  a  future 
state,  but  also  worldly  power  and  splendor  ;  and  doubtless  his 
disclaimer  had  reference  to  these  expectations.  But  the  question  is, 
Was  this  the  cause  of  Christ's  kingdom  actually  being  of  such  a  char- 
acter as  he  described  it ;  or,  merely  of  his  insisting  on  this,  in  those 
particular  expressions,  and  on  those  particular  occasions  ?  Are  his 
rebukes  to  his  disciples  for  offering  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven 
and  to  fight  in  his  cause,  —  rebukes  which  were  evidently  called 
forth  by  their  mistaken  zeal  on  each  occasion,  —  are  these  to  be 
regarded  as  having  reference  to  these  occasions  only,  or  as  descrip- 
tive of  the  character  of  the  religion  universally  ?  ^ 

And  what  has  been  said  of  the  employment  of  force^  may  equally 
be  applied  to  the  employment  of  frauds  in  the  cause  of  Christianity. 
Those  who  have  practised  pious  frauds  in  the  cause  of  Christianity, 
probably  committed  (unknown  to  themselves)  a  similar  error  to  the 
one  just  mentioned,  in  their  view  of  those  passages  of  Scripture 
which  insist  on  "  truth  "  as  a  characteristic  feature  of  the  religion. 
Those  expressions,  indeed,  were  probably  called  forth,  in  many  in- 
stances, by  the  peculiar  circumstances  attending  the  first  promulga- 
tion of  the  gospel ;  but  the  character  of  the  gospel  itself  is  "  the 
same  yesterday,  and  to-day,  and  for  ever." 

1  "  Non  invenitur  exemplum  in  evangelicis  et  apostolicis  Uteris,  aliquid  petitum 
a  regibus  terrae  pro  ecclesia,  contra  immicos  ecclesiae:  quis  negat  non  inveniri? 
Sed  nondum  implebatur  ilia  prophetia,  et  nunc  reges  intelligite,  erudimini,  qui 
judicatis  terrani;  servite  Domino  in  timore.  Adhuc  enim  illud  implebatur  quod 
in  eodem  psalmo  paullo  superius  dicitur;  Quare  tremuerunt  gentes,  et  populi 
meditati  sunt  inanla?  "  etc.  —  Augustine,  Epist.  93,  chap.  iii.  §  9. 

The  remainder  of  the  passage  is  curious,  in  which  this  Father  goes  on  to  rep- 
resent the  two  opposite  decrees  of  King  Kebuchadnezzar  as  types  of  the  two 
conditions  of  the  church;  the  sentence  of  death  passed  on  the  three  pious  Jews 
who  refused  to  worship  the  golden  idol,  being  typical  of  the  times  of  the  apos- 
tles and  martyrs;  and  the  present  time  (Augustine's)  being  represented  by  the 
decree  of  the  same  king,  that  whosoever  should  "  speak  anything  amiss  against 
the  God  of  those  Jews,  should  be  cut  in  pieces." 

2  See  Essay  V.  (Third  Series)  §  IV. 


ESSAY    II 


ON   THE    DIFFICULTIES   AND   THE  VALUE    OF   THE 
WRITINGS  OF  THE  APOSTLE  PAUL  GENERALLY. 

§  I.  There  appears  to  be  a  very  remarkable  analogy  be- 
tween the  treatment  to  which  Paul  was  himself 
exposed  during  his  personal  ministry  on  earth,  posed  than  any  of 
and  that  which  his  works  have  met  with  since.  IttLir'^both  *  of 
In  both  he  stands  distinguished  in  many  points  "^^^  m'^^^Z^ 
among  the  preachers  of  the  gospel  ;  and  it  is     personally  and  in 

hiB  -writings. 

possible  that  this  distinction  may  in  some  way 

be  connected  with  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  he  became 

one  of  that  number. 

The  same  apostle  who  had  been  originally  so  bitter  a  per- 
secutor of  the  Christians,  was  exposed,  after  his  conversion,  to 
a  greater  variety  of  afflictions  in  the  gospel  cause  than  any  of 
the  others.  He  not  only  had  to  endure  a  greater  amount  of 
persecution  than  any  of  the  rest,  from  unbelievers,  but  was  also 
peculiarly  harassed  by  vexatious  opposition,  and  mortifications 
of  every  kind,  from  his  Christian  brethren.  He  was  not  only 
"  in  labors  more  abundant,"  —  he  not  only  endured  a  double 
portion  of  imprisonments,  scourgings,  stoning,  perils  of  every 
kind  from  the  enemies  of  the  gospel,  —  being  specially  hated  by 
the  Jews  on  account  of  his  being  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles 
—  the  overthrower  of  the  proud  distinctions  of  Israel  "  after 
the  flesh,"  —  but  he  was  also  troubled  by  the  perversity  of  his 


60  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

own  converts,  —  especially  such  of  them  as  were  corrupted  by 
false  teachers,  —  who  endeavored  to  bring  them  into  subjection 
to  the  Mosaic  law,  and  labored  to  undervalue  his  claims  as  a 
true  apostle,  and  to  rival  him  in  the  estimation  of  his  own 
churches. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  his  Lord  designed  thus  to  place  him 
foremost  in  the  fight,  —  thus  to  assign  to  him,  both  the  most 
hazardous,  and  also  the  most  harassing  and  distressing  offices 
in  the  Christian  ministry,  —  on  account  of  his  having  once  been 
a  blasphemer  and  persecutor :  not  as  a  punishment,  or  again 
that  he  might  atone  and  make  compensation  for  his  former  sin 
(which  no  man  can  do),  but  that  he  might  have  an  opportunity 
of  completely  retracing  his  steps,  and  of  feeling  that  he  did  so ; 
that  he  might  display  a  zeal,  and  firmness,  and  patience,  and 
perseverance  above  all  the  rest,  in  the  cause  which  he  had 
once  oppressed ;  that,  by  having  his  own  injurious  treatment 
of  Christians  continually  brought  to  his  mind  by  what  he  him- 
self endured,  he  might  the  more  deeply  and  deliberately  humble 
himself  before  God  for  it ;  that  he  might  find  room  to  exercise, 
in  his  dealings  with  unbelievers,  all  that  full  knowledge  of  the 
perverse  prejudices  of  the  human  mind,  with  which  his  own 
memory  would  furnish  him,  by  reflecting  on  his  own  case  ;  and 
finally,  that  both  he  and  the  other  apostles  might  feel  that  he 
was  placed  fully  on  a  level  with  them,  notwithstanding  his  for- 
mer opposition  to  the  cause,  by  enduring  and  accomplishing 
in  it  more  than  all  the  rest,  by  suffering  more  than  he  had  ever 
inflicted,  by  forwarding  the  cause  of  truth  more  than  he  had 
ever  hindered  it,  and  by  bearing  with  him  this  pledge  that  God 
had  fully  pardoned  him,  —  the  pledge  of  his  being  counted  wor- 
thy not  only  to  suffer  in  his  ISIaster's  cause,  but  to  suffer  more 
than  any  other,  and  with  greater  effect.  He  who  had  been 
accessory  to  the  stoning  of  Stephen,  himself  alone  of  the  apos- 
tles, as  far  as  we  know,  suffered  stoning  ;  he  who  had  been  so 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  WRITINGS  OF  PAUL.  61 

zealous  in  behalf  of  the  law  of  Moses,  was  destined  to  encounter 
not  only  unbelieving  Jews,  but  those  Christians  also  who 
labored  to  corrupt  Christianity  by  mixing  the  law  of  Moses 
with  it ;  he  who  had  been,  as  he  expresses  it,  "  exceedingly 
mad  against  the  disciples,  and  persecuted  them  even  unto 
strange  cities,"  was  himself  driven  from  city  to  city  by  enemies 
whose  fury  knew  no  bounds,  both  of  his  own  countrymen,  and 
of  the  senseless  rabble  of  idolaters  who  assailed  him,  like  "  wild 
beasts,  at  Ephesus."  He  who  had  misinterpreted  the  ancient 
prophecies  respecting  the  Messiah,  and  despised  his  disciples, 
had  to  endure  not  only  the  contradiction  and  derision  of  unbe- 
lievers, but  also  the  wilfulness  and  perversity  of  "  false  breth- 
ren," who  misrepresented  and  distorted  the  doctrines  he  himself 
taught ;  and  of  arrogant  rivals,  who  strove  to  bring  him  into 
disrepute  with  those  who  had  learned  the  faith  from  him.^ 

1  "  Here,  then,  we  have  a  man  of  hberal  attainments,  and  in  other  points  of 
sound  judgment,  who  had  addicted  his  life  to  the  service  of  the  gospel.  "We  see 
him,  in  the  prosecution  of  his  purpose,  travelling  from  country  to  country,  en- 
during every  species  of  hardship,  encountering  every  extremity  of  danger,  — 
assaulted  by  the  populace,  punished  by  the  magistrates,  scourged,  beat,  stoned, 
left  for  dead;  expecting,  wherever  he  came,  a  renewal  of  the  same  treatment 
and  the  same  dangers,  yet,  when  driven  from  one  city,  preaching  in  the  next; 
spending  his  whole  time  in  the  employment,  sacrificing  to  it  his  pleasures,  his 
ease,  his  safety;  persisting  in  this  course  to  old  age,  unaltered  by  the  experience 
of  perverseness,  ingratitude,  prejudice,  desertion;  unsubdued  by  anxiety,  want, 
labor,  persecutions;  unwearied  by  long  confinement,  undismayed  by  the  pros- 
pect of  death.  Such  was  St.  Paul.  "We  have  his  letters  in  our  hands;  we  have 
also  a  history  purporting  to  be  written  by  one  of  his  fellow-travellers,  and  ap- 
pearing, by  a  comparison  with  these  letters,  certainly  to  have  been  written  by 

some  person  well  acquainted  with  the  transactions  of  his  life." "  We  also 

find  him  positively,  and  in  appropriated  terms,  asserting  that  he  himself  worked 
miracles,  strictly  and  properly  so  called,  in  support  of  the  mission  which  he  exe- 
cuted, —  the  history,  meanwhile,  recording  various  passages  of  his  ministry  which 
come  up  to  the  extent  of  this  assertion.  The  question  is,  whether  falsehood  was 
ever  attested  by  evidence  like  this.  Falsehoods,  we  know,  have  found  their  way 
into  reports,  into  traditions,  into  books;  but  is  an  example  to  be  met  with  of  a 
man  voluntarily  undertaking  a  life  of  want  and  pain,  of  incessant  fatigue,  of 
continual  peril;  submitting  to  the  loss  of  his  home  and  his  country,  to  stripes 
and  stoning,  to  tedious  imprisonment,  and  the  constant  expectation  of  a  vie- 

6 


62  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

In  all  these  struggles  he  was  "  more  than  conqueror,  through 
Christ  that  strengthened"  him.  Trusting  that  his  Master 
would  enable  him  to  go  through  the  work  to  which  he  had 
been  appointed,  and  would  turn  even  the  malice  and  perver- 
sity of  men  to  "  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel,"  he  "  rejoiced 
that  Christ  was  preached,"  even  when  it  was  "  through  envy 
and  strife"  by  those  "  who  thought  to  add  affliction "  to  the 
apostle's  bonds  ;  he  exulted  in  that  very  bondage,  because 
it  was  made  the  means  of  introducing  him  to  the  notice  of 
some  among  the  Romans  to  whom  he  might  not  otherwise 
have  gained  access  (Phil.  i.  12-18)  ;  and  at  Philippi,  when 
cruelly  scourged  and  imprisoned  untried  by  the  Roman  magis- 
trates, he  joyfully  trusted  that  Christ  would  make  even  this  a 
means  of  forwarding  his  cause,  —  which  was  done  in  the  conse- 
quent conversion  of  the  jailer  and  his  family ;  the  germ,  prob- 
ably, in  conjunction  with  the  household  of  Lydia,  of  the 
exemplary  church  of  the  Philippians.^ 

A  like  fate  seems  to  attend  the  writings,  also,  which  this 
blessed  apostle  and  martyr  left  behind  him.     No  part  of  the 


lent  death,  for  the  sake  of  carrying  about  a  story  of  what  was  false,  and  of  what, 
if  false,  he  must  have  known  to  be  so?  "  — Paley's  Horae  Paulinae,  pp.  338,  339, 
1  The  whole  narrative  of  this  transaction  is  particularly  affecting,  from  the 
strong  relief  in  which  the  incidents  are  set  by  the  quiet  simplicity  of  the  lan- 
guage: "  The  magistrates  rent  off  their  clothes  and  commanded  to  beat  them. 
And  when  they  had  laid  many  stripes  upon  them,  they  cast  them  into  prison, 
charging  the  jailer  to  keep  them  safely;  who,  having  received  such  a  charge, 
thrust  them  into  the  inner  prison,  and  made  their  feet  fast  in  the  stocks.  And 
at  midnight  Paul  and  Silas  prayed  and  sang  praises  unto  God;  and  the  prisoners 
heard  them.  And  suddenly  there  was  a  great  earthquake,  so  that  the  founda- 
tions of  the  prison  were  shaken;  and  immediately  all  the  doors  were  opened, 
and  every  one's  bands  were  loosed.  And  the  keeper  of  the  prison,  awaking  out 
of  his  sleep,  and  seeing  the  prison-doors  open,  he  drew  his  sword  and  would 
have  killed  himself,  supposing  that  the  prisoners  had  been  fled.  But  Paul  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  Do  thyself  no  harm;  for  we  are  all  here.  Then  he 
called  for  a  light,  and  sprang  in,  and  came  trembling,  and  fell  down  before 
Paul  and  Silas,  and  brought  them  out  and  said,  Sirs,  what  must  I  do  to  be 
saved? "  —  Acts  xvi.  22-30. 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  WRITINGS  OF  PAUL.  63 

scriptures  of  the  New  Testament  has  been  so  unjustly  neg- 
lected by  some  Christians,  and  so  much  perverted  by  others ; 
over  and  above  the  especial  hatred  of  them  by  infidels  and  by 
some  description  of  heretics.  Still  may  Paul  be  said  to  stand 
in  his  works,  as  he  did  in  person  while  on  earth,  in  front  of  the 
battle  ;  to  bear  the  chief  brunt  of  assailants  from  the  enemy's 
side,  and  to  be  treacherously  stabbed  by  false  friends  on  his 
own  ;  degraded  and  vilified  by  one  class  of  heretics,  perverted 
and  misinterpreted  by  another,  and  too  often  most  unduly  neg- 
lected by  those  who  are  regarded  as  orthodox.  And  still  do 
his  works  stand,  and  will  ever  stand,  as  a  mighty  bulwark  of 
the  true  Christian  faith.  He,  after  having  himself  "  fought  the 
good  fight,  and  finished  his  course,"  has  left  behind  him  a  mon- 
ument in  his  works  whereby  "  he  being  dead  yet  speaketh,"  — 
a  monument  which  his  Master  will  guard  (even  till  that  day 
when  its  author  shall  receive  the  "  crown  of  righteousness  laid 
up  for  him  ")  from  being  overthrown  by  the  assaults  of  ene- 
mies, and  from  mouldering  into  decay  through  the  negligence 
of  friends. 

§  n.  In  order  to  avoid  being  misunderstood  as  to  the  sense 
in  which  this  apostle's  writings  have  been  Ambiguity  of  the 
spoken  of  as  a  principal  bulwark  of  gospel  truth,  '^°''^  cospei. 
and  as  to  the  censure  passed  on  the  comparative  neglect  they 
sometimes  meet  with,  I  must  entreat  the  reader's  attention  to 
some  considerations,  which,  though  frequently  overlooked  in 
practice,  are  so  obvious  when  once  fairly  presented  to  the 
mind,  that  I  fear  it  may  be  thought  trifling  to  dwell  on  them. 

Of  all  the  ambiguities  of  language  that  have  ever  confused 
men's  thoughts,  and  thence  led  to  pernicious  results  in  practice 
(and  unspeakable  is  the  mischief  which  has  thus  been  done), 
there  are  few,  perhaps,  that  have  ever  produced  more  evil 
than  the  ambiguity  of  the  word  "  Gospel."     The  word,  as  is 


64  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

well  known,  signifies,  according  to  its  etymology  (as  well  as 
the  Greek  term  of  which  it  is  a  translation),  "  good  tidings  ;  " 
and  thence  is  applied  especially  to  the  joyful  intelligence  of 
salvation  for  fallen  man  through  Christ.  The  same  term  has 
come  to  be  applied,  naturally  enough,  to  each  of  the  histories 
which  give  an  account  of  the  life  of  him,  the  Author  of  that 
salvation ;  and  thence  men  are  frequently  led  to  seek  exclu- 
sively, or  principally,  in  those  histories,  for  an  account  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion  :  for  where  should  they  look, 
they  may  say,  for  "  gospel  truth,"  but  in  the  "  Gospels  ?  "  And 
yet  it  is  plain,  on  a  moment's  reflection,  that  whether  they  are 
right  or  wrong  in  such  a  practice,  this  reason  for  it  is  no  more 
than  a  play  upon  words  ;  for  no  one  really  supposes  that  when 
the  apostles  went  forth  to  preach  the  gospel,  the  meaning  of 
that  is  that  they  recited  the  histories  composed  by  Matthew, 
Mark,  Luke,  and  John,  which  were  not  written  till  long  after ; 
or  even  that  their  teaching  was  confined  to  the  mere  narrative 
of  the  things  there  recorded. 

In  the  primary  sense  of  the  word  Gospel,  —  the  "  good  tid- 
ings of  great  joy  to  all  people,"  which  were  first 

Full  instruction 

in  the  Christian     proclaimed  (preached)  by  the  heavenly  messen- 

Bcheme   not  to  be  iiii  t/»  -i^-r 

found  in  the  four  g^rs  to  thc  shcphcrds,  and  afterwards  by  Jesus 
evangehst^^^bu^t  ^^^  j^j^  disciplcs,  —  in  this  sense,  the  writings 
pSr'  """'''"^  ^^  ^^®  evangelists  do  contain  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  gospel,  and,  as  has  been  just  remarked, 
derived  from  this  their  title.  Ours  is  an  historical  religion  ; 
not  only  connected  with,  but  founded  on,  certain  recorded 
events,  —  the  birth,  life,  death,  and  resurrection  of  the  Saviour  ; 
the  pouring  out  of  his  Spirit  on  the  disciples,  etc.  Strictly 
speaking,  therefore,  the  gospel  is  the  annunciation  of  what 
God  has  done  for  man.  What  man  is  to  do  on  his  part,  —  the 
means  towards  the  end,  —  the  Christian  faith  and  practice  by 
which  he  must  attain  to  a  share  of  the  proffered  blessings,  — 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  WRITINGS  OF  PAUL.  65 

these  are  properly  gospel  doctrine  ;  but,  by  a  natural  transition, 
have  come  to  be  frequently  called,  simply,  the  Gospel.  It  is 
not  necessary,  however,  to  be  curious  about  words,  any  further 
than  is  necessary  to  secure  us  against  being  misled  by  them  in 
respect  of  things.  I  am  indifferent  whether  the  apostolic  epis- 
tles are  called  a  part  of  the  gospel,  or  not,  provided  it  be  but 
admitted,  and  carefully  kept  in  mind,  that  they  are  necessary 
to  direct  us  how  to  attain  the  blessings  of  the  gospel.  An 
announcement  of  the  existence,  and  of  the  miraculous  efficacy 
of  a  tree  of  life,  would  be  of  no  benefit  to  those  who  were  not 
instructed  how  to  procure  and  partake  of  its  fruit. 

But  there  is  yet  another  and  less  obvious  ambiguity  in  the 
same  word.  Our  Lord,  while  on  earth,  was  employed,  together 
with  his  disciples,  we  are  told,  in  preaching  "  the  gospel  of  the 
kingdom;"  that  is,  the  good  tidings  that "  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
[as  he  himself  expressed  it]  was  at  hand^  And  good  tidings 
these  certainly  were,  to  the  Jews  and  others  who  looked  for 
the  Messiah's  promised  kingdom  (to  whom  alone  he  preached), 
that  this  kingdom  was  just  about  to  be  established.  And  since, 
therefore,  Jesus  is  spoken  of  as  preaching  the  gospel,  many  are 
hence  led  to  look  to  his  discourses  alone,  or  principally,  as  the 
storehouse  of  divine  truth,  to  the  neglect  of  the  other  Sacred  Writ- 
ings. But  the  gospel  which  Jesus  himself  preached,  was  not  the 
same  thing  with  the  gospel  which  he  sent  forth  his  apostles  to 
preach  after  his  resurrection.  This  may  at  the  first  glance 
appear  a  paradox;  but  on  a  moment's  consideration  it  will 
seem  rather  a  truism,  that  the  preaching  of  Jesus  and  that  of 
the  apostles  was  not,  and  could  not  be,  the  same ;  though 
they  were,  each,  the  gospel.  I  do  not  mean,  of  course,  that 
they  were  two  different  systems,  —  much  less,  at  variance  with 
each  other,  —  but  the  one  was  a  part  only,  and  the  other  a 
whole  ;  or  rather,  I  should  say,  a  greater  part  of  that  stupendous 
6* 


66  WHATELT'S  ESSAYS. 

whole  which  is  not  to  be  entirely  revealed  to  us  here  on  earth, 
—  the  stupendous  mystery  of  man's  redemption. 

How,  indeed,  could  our  Lord,  during  his  abode  on  the  earth, 
preach  fully  that  scheme  of  salvation  of  which  the  keystone 
had  not  been  laid,  even  his  meritorious  sacrifice  as  an  atone- 
ment for  sin,  his  resurrection  from  the  dead,  and  ascension 
into  glory,  when  these  events  had  not  taken  place  ?  He  did 
indeed  darkly  hint  at  these  events  in  his  discourses  to  his  dis- 
ciples (and  to  them  alone),  by  way  of  prophecy;  but  we  are 
told  that  "  the  saying  was  hid  from  them,  and  they  compre- 
hended it  not,  till  after  that  Christ  was  risen  from  the  dead." 
Of  course,  therefore,  there  was  no  reason,  and  no  room,  for 
Him  to  enter  into  a  full  discussion  of  the  doctrines  dependent 
on  those  events.  He  left  them  to  be  enlightened  in  due  time  as 
to  the  true  nature  of  His  kingdom,  by  the  gift  which  He  kept  in 
store  for  them :  "  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but 
ye  cannot  bear  them  now.  Howbeit,  when  he,  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  is  come,  he  shall  guide  you  into  all  [the]  truth."  There 
would  have  been  no  need  of  this  promise,  had  our  Lord's 
own  discourses  contained  a  full  account  of  the  Christian  faith. 

But  "  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  "  which  He  preached  was, 
that  the  "  kingdom  of  Heaven  was  at  hand^'  —  not  that 
it  was  actually  established  ;  which  was  the  gospel  preached  by 
His  apostles,  when  Christ,  "  having  been  made  perfect  through 
sufferings,"  had  entered  into  his  kingdom,  had  "ascended 
up  on  high,  and  led  captive  "  the  oppressor  of  men,  and  had 
"  received  gifts  "  to  bestow  on  them.  Our  Lord's  discourses, 
therefore,  while  on  earth,  though  they  teach,  of  course,  the 
truth,  do  not  teach,  nor  could  have  been  meant  to  teach,  the 
whole  truth,  as  afterwards  revealed  to  his  disciples.  They 
could  not,  indeed,  even  consistently  with  truth,  have  contained 
the  main  part  of  what  the  apostles  preached;  because  tliat 
was  chiefly  founded  on  events  which  had  not  then  taken  place. 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  WRITINGS  OF  PAUL.  67 

What  chance,  then,  can  they  have  of  attaining  true  Christian 
knowledge,  who  shut  their  eyes  to  such  obvious  conclusions  as 
these  ?  —  who,  under  that  idle  plea,  the  misapphcation  of  the 
maxim  that  "the  disciple  is  not  above  his  master,"  confine 
their  attention  entirely  to  the  discourses  of  Christ  recorded  in 
the  four  Gospels,  as  containing  all  necessary  truth  ;  and  if 
anything  in  the  other  parts  of  the  Sacred  Writings  is  forced 
upon  their  attention,  studiously  explain  it  away,  and  limit  its 
signification,  at  all  hazards,  so  that  it  may  not  go  one  step  beyond 
what  is  clearly  revealed  in  the  works  of  the  evangelists  ?  —  as 
if  a  man  should,  in  the  culture  of  a  fruit  tree,  carefully  destroy 
and  reject,  as  a  spurious  excrescence,  every  part  of  the  fruit 
which  was  not  fully  developed  in  the  blossom  that  preceded  it ! 

Even  if  Christ  had  in  person  publicly  preached  after  his 
resurrection,  as  well  as  his  apostles,  this  plea  that  "  the  disciple  is 
not  above  his  master"  would  not  have  excused  the  insult 
offered  to  him  in  the  person  of  his  messengers,  —  the  insult,  I 
mean,  of  making  the  authority  he  gave  them  go  for  just 
nothing  at  all ;  which  it  does,  if  they  are  to  be  believed,  just  as 
far  as  they  coincide  with  what  he  himself  uttered  in  per- 
son, and  no  further ;  since,  thus  far,  any  one  of  us  is  to  be 
believed.  For,  the  apostles,  who  were  divinely  commissioned 
by  Christ  himself,  either  were  inspired  by  him  with  his  Spirit, 
which  "  led  them  into  all  [the]  truth^,  or  they  were  not.  If  we 
say  that  they  were  not,  we  make  him  a  liar  for  giving  them 
this  commission  and  this  promise,  as  well  as  them  for  preach- 
ing what  they  did ;  if  they  were  thus  divinely  authorized,  it 
must  follow,  inevitably,  that  what  they  said  (I  mean  in   the 

1  They  were  not  inspired  with  a  knowledge  of  all  truth;  being  in  many  things 
left  to  act  on  their  own  judgment,  as  they  expressly  tell  us.  But  what  they 
were  inspired  with  was,  as  the  Greek  plainly  intimates,  "  the  knowledge  of  all  the 
truth;  "  namely,  that  truth  which  they  were  commissioned  to  make  known, — 
the  mysteries  of  the  Christian  religion,  in  which  Paul  declares  expressly  he  was 
instructed  by  the  Lord  himself. 


68  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

teaching  of  the  Christian  religion)  was  said  by  him,  and  has 
exactly  the  same  authority  as  if  he  had  uttered  it  with  his 
own  lips.  Even  an  earthly  king  expects  that  a  messenger,  sent 
by  him  with  satisfactory  credentials  and  full  powers,  should 
receive  the  same  credit  for  what  he  says  as  would  be  given  to 
himself  in  person ;  and  would  regard  it  as  an  unpardonable 
affront  if  the  message  so  sent  were  rejected.  "  He  that  heareth 
you,"  said  Christ  to  his  apostles,  "  heareth  me ;  and  he  that 
despiseth  you,  despiseth  me  ;  and  he  that  depiseth  me,  despiseth 
Him  that  sent  me." 

But,  in  truth,  not  only  is  the  preaching  of  the  apostles  to  be 
regarded  as  of  divine  authority,  and  therefore  not  requiring 
confirmation  from  our  Lord's  personal  discourses,  nor  submit- 
ting to  limitation  by  them,  but,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case, 
it  is  impossible  that  such  a  complete  coincidence  should  exist 
between  them.  I  have  just  above  supposed  the  case  of  Jesus 
himself  preaching  publicly,  after  his  resurrection,  conjointly 
with  his  disciples ;  but  we  know  that  he  did  not  do  this  :  he 
sent  them  forth  to  testify  of  events,  and  to  teach  doctrines 
founded  on  events,  which  had  not  taken  place  during  his  per- 
sonal ministry  on  earth.  It  is  commonly  supposed,  indeed,  by 
ignorant  Christians  (ignorant,  I  mean,  of  what  they  might 
learn  from  the  Bible),  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world 
to  teach  a  true  religion ;  but  in  fact,  he  came,  chiefly,  for  a 
different  purpose.  He  did  not  come  to  make  a  revelation,  so 
much  as  to  be  the  subject  of  a  revelation.  He  was  only  so  far 
the  revealer  and  teacher  of  the  great  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
as  you  might  call  the  sun  and  planets  the  discoverers  of  the 
Newtonian  System  of  Astronomy.  He  accomplished  what  he 
left  his  apostles  to  testify  and  to  explain,  —  he  offered  up  him- 
self on  the  cross,  that  they  might  teach  the  atoning  virtue  of  his 
sacrifice ;  he  rose  from  the  dead  and  ascended  into  heaven,  that 
they  might  declare  the  great  mystery  of  his  divine  and  human 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  WRITINGS  OF  PAUL.  69 

nature,  and  preach  that  faith  in  him  by  which  his  followers 
hope  to  be  raised  and  to  reign  with  him. 

The  Christian  faith  is  not  merely  to  believe  what  Christ 
taught,  but  to  believe  in  him.  As  the  promised  Messiah,  a 
man  might  believe  in  him  while  he  was  on  earth ;  but  what 
the  Messiah  should  be,  and  that  he  should  be  a  Redeemer  by 
his  death,  no  one  did  or  could  understand  till  that  great  work 
was  accomplished.  The  true  character  of  the  redemption,  and 
of  the  faith  by  which  we  must  partake  of  it,  and  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  Messiah's  spiritual  kingdom  (a  kingdom 
which  did  not  exist  during  his  ministry  on  earth),  his  apostles 
themselves  could  not  collect,  even  after  his  departure,  from 
all  his  former  discourses,  till  they  had  received  inspiration 
from  on  high  to  enable  them  to  teach  the  true  doctrines  of 
the  gospel.  And  when  they  did  understand  this  gospel,  they 
thought  it  necessary  to  give  an  explanation  of  it  in  their  dis- 
courses and  in  their  epistles.  Those,  therefore,  who  neglect 
their  inspired  preaching,  and  will  learn  nothing  of  Christianity 
except  what  they  find  in  the  discourses  of  Jesus,  —  confident 
that  these  alone  contain  the  whole  truth,  —  are  wilfully  prefer- 
ring an  imperfect  to  a  more  complete  revelation,  and  setting 
their  own  judgment  above  that  of  the  apostles.  It  is  frightful  to 
think  how  much  they  stake  on  this  their  supposed  superiority  — 
what  consequences  of  their  blind  presumption  they  may  have 
to  abide  :  "  professing  themselves  to  be  wise,  they  become 
fools ; "  and  as  they  despise  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
who  led  the  apostles  "  into  all  truth,"  is  it  not  to  be  feared 
that  if  they  persist  in  this  their  rejection  of  Him,  He  will  give 
them  over  to  their  own  vain  conceits ;  and  leave  those  who 
have  turned  aside  from  the  "  living  waters  of  the  Spirit,"  to 
"hew  out  for  themselves  broken  cisterns,  that  will  hold  no 
water  ?  " 

The  books,  then,  which  we  call  the  four  Gospels,  do  not,  it 


70  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

should  always  be  remembered,  contain  a  compendium  of  the 
Christian  religion  ;  but,  chiefly,  memoirs  of  the  life  and  pre- 
paratory teaching  of  its  Founder  :  who  came  into  the  world  not 
to  make  a  revelation,  so  much  as  to  be  the  subject  of  a  revel- 
ation ;  to  announce  the  glad  tidings  (gospel)  of  salvation 
through  Him,  but  not  to  give  any  full  description  of  the  means 
by  which  we  are  to  embrace  that  salvation ;  and  who,  at  the 
close  of  His  personal  ministry,  tells  His  disciples,  "I  have 
yet  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  you  cannot  bear  them 
now." 

Nor  do  the  evangelists  undertake  the  task  of  teaching  the 
Christian  faith ;  since  they  wrote  for  the  express  use,  not  of 
unbelieving  Jews  and  idolaters,  but  of  Christians,  who  had 
heard  the  gospel  doctrines  preached,  and  then  had  been  regu- 
larly instructed  (catechized,  as  the  word  is  in  the  original)  and 
examined,  and,  finally,  baptized  into  the  faith.  Christianity 
was  not,  as  many  are  apt  to  suppose,  founded  on  the  four 
Gospels,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  four  Gospels  were  founded 
on  Christianity ;  that  is,  they  were  written  to  meet  the  demand 
of  Christians,  who  were  naturally  anxious  for  something  of  a 
regular  account  of  the  principal  events  from  which  their  faith 
was  derived.  *'  Forasmuch  as  many  have  taken  in  hand  to  set 
forth,  in  order,  a  declaration  of  those  things  which  are  most 

certainly  believed  among  us it  seemed  good  to  me  also 

to  write  unto  thee,  in  order,  most  excellent  Theophilus,  that 
thou  mightest  know  the  certainty  of  those  things  wherein  thou 
hast  been  instructed" 

The  book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  again,  contains  a 
history  of  the  progress,  but  no  detail  of  the  teaching,  of  Chris- 
tianity. Many  of  the  discourses  mentioned  as  having  been 
delivered,  are  not  themselves  recorded,  —  the  object  and  design 
of  the  work  being,  as  in  the  case  of  the  four  Gospels,  not  to 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  WRITINGS  OF  PAUL.  71 

teach  Christianity  to  its  readers,  who  were  abeady  Christians, 
but  to  give  them  a  history  of  its  propagation.^ 

Our  chief  source,  therefore,  of  instruction  as  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  gospel,  must  be  in  the  apostolic  epistles ;  which  cannot, 
indeed,  be  expected  to  afford  a  regular,  systematic  introduction 
to  Christianity,  an  orderly  detail  of  the  first  rudiments  of  the 
faith,  calculated  for  the  instruction  of  beginners  entirely  igno- 
rant of  it,  —  since  all  of  them  were  written  to  those  who  were 
already  converts  to  Christianity,  —  but  yet,  from  the  variety  of 
the  occasions  on  which  they  were  composed,  and  of  the  per- 
sons to  whom  they  were  addressed,  and  from  their  being 
purposely  designed  to  convey  admonition,  instruction,  and  ex- 
hortation as  to  Christian  doctrine  and  practice  (which  is  not 
the  case  with  any  other  part  of  the  Sacred  Writings),  the  apos- 
tolic epistles  do  contain,  though  scattered  irregularly  here  and 
there,  according  to  the  several  occasions,  all  the  great  doctrines 
of  the  gospel,  as  far  as  it  has  yet  been  revealed  to  men  —  ex- 
plained, enforced,  repeated,  illustrated,  in  an  infinite  variety  of 
forms  of  expression  :  thus  furnishing  us  with  the  means,  by  a 
careful  study  of  those  precious  remains,  and  by  a  diligent 
comparison  of  one  passage  with  another,  of  attaining  sufficient 
knowledge  of  all  necessary  truth,  and  of  becoming  "  wise  unto 
salvation,  through  faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  ^ 

The  most  precious  part  of  this  treasure  we  have  from  the 
pen  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  —  he  being  the  author  of  the  far  greater 
part  of  the  epistles  (about  five  sixths  of  the  whole),  and  also 
furnishing  even  a  greater  variety  still  of  instruction  than  in 
proportion  to  this   amount,  on  account  of  the  variety  of  the 

1  See  Hinds's  History  of  the  Rise  and  Early  Progress  of  Christianity.  Part  11. 
chap.  2. 

2  To  the  Scriptures,  therefore,  was  assigned  the  office  of  proving;  but  to  the 
churchy  that  of  systematically  teaching,  the  Christian  doctrines.  (See  Dr.  Haw- 
kins's excellent  little  work  on  Tradition.)  This  circumstance  seems  to  me  to 
afford  a  powerful  evidence  of  Christianity.    See  Essay  VI.    (First  Series.) 


72  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

times  and  circumstances  and  occasions  which  produced  them, 
and  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  were  written,  —  individuals 
and  entire  churches ;  Jews  and  Gentiles ;  converts  of  his  own 
making,  and  strangers  to  his  person ;  European  or  Asiatic ; 
sound  and  zealous  Christians,  and  the  negligent  and  misguided. 
The  same  faith  is  taught  to  all  —  the  same  duties  enforced  on 
ail ;  but  various  points  of  faith  and  of  practice  are  dwelt  on  in 
each,  according  to  the  several  occasions.  This  very  thing, 
however, —  the  variety  of  the  circumstances,  the  temporary  and 
local  allusions,  and,  in  short,  the  thorough,  earnest,  business- 
like style  of  his  letters,  —  cannot  but  increase  the  difficulty,  in 
some  places,  of  ascertaining  the  writer  s  meaning ;  and  those 
who  are  too  indolent  to  give  themselves  any  trouble  on  the 
subject,  shelter  themselves  under  the  remark  of  the  Apostle 
Peter,  that  the  epistles  of  Paul  contain  "  things  hard  to  be  un- 
derstood, which  they  that  are  unlearned  wrest  to  their  own 
destruction,"  —  unlearned,  that  is,  not  in  systems  of  human 
philosophy,  but  in  the  truths  revealed  in  the  Bible.  No  doubt 
his  writings  do  contain  "  things  hard  to  be  understood ; "  but 
that  is  a  reason  why  Christians  should  take  the  more  pains  to 
understand  them,  and  why  those  who  are  commissioned  by 
the  chief  Shepherd  for  that  purpose,  should  the  more  diligently 
explain  them  to  their  flocks. 

Nay,  but  his  doctrines,  it  seems,  are  not  only  difficulty  but 
dangerous  also  ;  and,  therefore,  had  better  be  kept  out  of  sight, 
lest  the  unlearned  should  not  only  fail  to  understand  them,  but 
should  "  wrest  them  to  their  own  destruction."  Then  let  us 
throw  aside  the  whole  Bible  at  once,  and  invent  a  safe  religion 
of  our  own.  For  hear  but  Peter's  words :  "  Which  they  that 
are  unlearned  and  unstable  wrest,  as  they  do  also  the  other 
Scriptures,  to  their  own  destruction."  So  that,  if  this  inference 
is  to  be  drawn  at  all,  from  the  danger  to  the  unlearned  of 
wresting  doctrines  to  their  own  destruction,  —  if,  to  avoid  the 


DIFFICULTIES  m  THE  WRITINGS  OF  ST.  PAUL.  73 

danger  of  misinterpretation,  we  are  to  seal  up  the  book  which 
contains  them,  the  book  so  sealed  up  must  be  the  Bible. 

Dangerous  indeed !     Yes,  most  good  things  are  dangerous 
(and  the  more  in  proportion  to  their  excellence) 

Danger  of  mis- 

to  those  "  who  are  unlearned  and  unstable  ; "  that  interpretation  not 
is,  who  will  not  learn  how  to  use  them  aright,  and  the  study  of  Paui™ 
who  are  unstable,  —  unsteady  in  giving  their  at-  ^^'^"^^" 
tention  to  gain  right  knowledge,  and  to  apply  it  in  practice. 
Meat  and  drink  are  dangerous;  for  what  multitudes  fall  a 
sacrifice  to  intemperance  !  Shall  we,  then,  resolve  to  perish 
with  famine,  and  let  our  children  starve  around  us,  lest  we  and 
they  should  thus  wrest  to  our  destruction  the  good  gifts  of 
God  ?  —  shall  the  pastors,  who  are  commissioned  to  feed  Christ's 
flock,  shut  them  out  from  the  principal  pasture  designed  for 
their  use,  lest  they  should  stray  beyond  its  bounds,  or  come  to 
some  harm  there  ?  What  are  Christian  ministers  appointed 
for,  but  to  instruct  the  people  in  the  Scriptures,  —  to  explain 
to  them  those  Scriptures,  —  and  to  warn  them  against  the 
errors  arising  from  the  wresting  and  perverting  of  God's 
Word  ?  Ill  would  they  perform  their  office  should  they  dare 
to  mutilate  God's  Word  by  leaving  out  everything  that  is 
"hard  to  be  understood,"  to  save  themselves  the  trouble  of 
interpreting  it,  —  should  they  seek  to  preserve  their  hearers 
from  the  danger  attendant  on  the  gospel  truths,  by  omitting  to 
"  declare  to  them  all  the  counsel  of  God.'* 

And,  after  all,  no  such  security  as  is  sought  can  ever  be 
found.  Where  there  is  true  coin,  there  will  always  be  coun- 
terfeit in  circulation :  there  is  no  truth  in  the  world  that  has 
not  some  error  very  much  resembling  it ;  there  is  no  virtue 
but  there  is  a  corresponding  vice  that  apes  its  appearance; 
there  is  no  right  principle,  in  Scripture  or  anywhere  else,  that 
may  not  by  the  unlearned  be  "  wrested  to  their  own  destruc- 
tion." Some  will  do  this  with  the  truths  of  Scripture,  in  spite 
7 


74  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

of  all  our  care ;  but  there  is  this  difference,  —  that  he  who 
studies  and  leads  others  to  study  the  whole  word  of  God,  as 
his  inspired  servants  have  left  it,  has  at  least  good  reason  to 
hope  that  he  and  they  may,  through  God's  Spirit,  attain  truth 
without  error ;  whereas  he  who  confines  himself  to  a  part  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  that,  too,  a  part  which  (it  is  plain  from  what 
has  been  just  said)  cannot  contain  the  whole  truth  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  he  who  wilfully  disregards  the  teaching  of  Him  whose 
"  gospel  was  not  after  man,  neither  received  of  man,  nor  taught, 
but  by  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,"  —  such  an  one  is  sure 
to  be  wrong,  and  to  lead  others  wrong  if  they  are  guided  by 
him ;  and  he  is  fully  answerable,  both  for  his  own  errors  and 
for  theirs  :  he  makes  the  experiment  at  his  own  peril ;  and  on 
his  own  head  must  be  the  inevitable  consequence  of  rejecting 
an  acknowledged  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ.^ 

And  he  must  also  bear  the  blame  even  of  the  errors  into 
which  others  may  lead  his  hearers.  If  they  chance  to  listen  to 
some  wild  Antinomian  fanatic,  who  cites  perpetually  texts  from 
Paul  which  they  have  never  heard  differently  explained,  how 
can  it  be  expected  that  they  should  perceive  and  avoid  the 
error?  They  know  that  Paul's  writings  are  admitted  as  can- 
onical and  inspired ;  and  they  have  not  been  taught  that  his 
language  will  bear  any  other  interpretation  than  what  they 
hear  given ;  and  the  silence  of  their  own  pastor  on  the  subject 
will  have  afforded  them  a  presumption  that  he  can  suggest  no 
other  interpretation.  And  thus  the  wolf  will  scatter  and  de- 
vour the  flock  which  their  shepherd  has  forsaken. 

1  Lest  I  should  seem  to  have  been  combating  a  shadow,  it  may  be  as  well  to 
mention  that  the  Discourse  of  which  this  Essay  continues  the  substance,  was 
called  forth  by  the  advice  given,  at  that  time,  to  divinity  students,  by  persons 
high  in  office  at  Oxford,  to  abstain  from  the  study  of  Paul's  Epistles  till  they 
should  have  thoroughly  mastered  such  and  such  books,— a  list  which  would 
occupy  at  least  ten  years  of  hard  study.  But  they  were  to  be  allowed  to  take 
Holy  Orders  in  the  mean  time,  and  to  act  as  instructors  of  whole  congregations ! 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  WRITINGS  OF  PAUL.  75 

It  is  not,  however,  on  the  dangers  to  be  apprehended  from 
such  a  procedure,  and  the  expediency  of  an  opposite  course, 
that  I  wish  principally  to  dwell.  I  would  rather  advert  to  the 
principles  laid  down  in  the  preceding  Essay.  Supposing  we 
were  in  any  case  quite  sure^  that  no  fanatical  sectaries  would 
arise  to  take  advantage  of  our  omission  or  neglect  of  this  apos- 
tle's writings;  —  should  we  then  be  justified  in  thus  guarding 
against  apprehended  evils  by  keeping  out  of  sight  the  instruc- 
tions he  was  commissioned  by  his  Master  to  deliver  ?  —  in 
taking  such  liberties  with  the  gospel  as  to  modify  and  fashion 
it  according  to  our  views,  and  virtually  to  expunge  from  the 
record  of  God's  revelations  what  we  chance  to  think  unneces- 
sary ?  Have  we  a  right,  in  short,  even  to  entertain  the 
question  concerning  expediency,  instead  of  considering  simply 
what  is  the  truth  as  declared  by  divine  inspiration,  and  resolv- 
ing, at  all  events,  to  follow  the  truth  ? 


§  III.    It  is  necessary  to  observe,  however,  that  there  is  a  way 
of  evadinnr  the  force  of  all  that  has  been  hitherto 

°  study  of  PauVa 

urged,  —  a  plan  which   certainly  may  be,  and     writings  not  to  be 

deferred  till  a  mass 

I  fear  in  some  instances  has  been,  resorted  to,  of  theological  leam- 
for  nullifying  in  effect,  without  professing  to  quired  from  other 
oppose,  every  argument  that  has  been  adduced. 
And  it  is  this  :  to  extol  Paul's  writings,  and  exhort  men  to  the 
diligent  study  of  them  ;  urging  at  the  same  time  (what  no  one 
can  deny)  the  importance  of  interpreting  them  rightly  ;  and 
insisting  on  a  preliminary  course  of  study,  without  which  no 
one  is  even  to  enter  on  the  perusal  of  them ;  and  then  to  make 
this  preparation  consist  in  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  such 
a  list  of  books  as  even  those  professionally  devoted  to  theolog- 
ical pursuits  cannot  be  expected  to  master  without  the  assiduous 

1  This  is  the  remark,  almost  verbatim,  of  the  late  Bishop  Copleston,  in  a  con- 
versation with  the  author,  on  the  subject  of  the  present  Essay. 


76  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

labor  of  several  years.^  No  plan  could  be  devised  more  effec- 
tual (were  it  generally  adopted)  for  making  Paul's  epistles  a 
sealed  book  to  all  but  about  one  in  ten  thousand  of  the  Chris- 
tian world.  For  supposing  even  all  the  clergy,  nay,  even  all 
candidates  for  ordination,  to  have  gone  through  this  preparatory 
course  of  study,  the  same  could  not  be  expected  of  the  laity, 
except  a  small  portion  of  the  educated  classes.  And  the  ben- 
efits, whatever  they  might  be,  of  this  preparation,  would,  after 
all,  be  confined  to  those  few  who  had  gone  through  it.  They, 
indeed,  if  they  were  careful  not  even  to  open  these  epistles  till 
their  minds  were  sufficiently  biassed  by  a  great  mass  of  human 
commentaries  and  disquisitions,  would  doubtless  be  prepared 
to  understand  them  very  differently  from  what  they  would 
have  done  on  another  system,  —  whether  better  or  worse  is  not 
now  the  question,  —  but  they  would  not,  after  all,  be  qualified 
to  expound  this  writer  to  their  flocks,  nor  authorized  to  recom- 
mend the  perusal  of  him ;  for  these  would  be,  by  the  hypothesis, 
unfit  to  enter  on  the  study  of  his  epistles,  or  to  comprehend 
any  exposition  of  them.  And  if  the  principle  were  consistently 
followed  up,  it  would  soon  be  remarked  that  the  mass  of 
unlearned  Christians  are  not  duly  prepared  for  the  thorough 
comprehension  even  of  the  rest  of  Scripture  ;  so  that  we  should 
speedily  arrive  at  the  very  point  so  earnestly  contended  for 
against  the  Reformers  ;  namely,  the  inexpediency  of  putting  the 
Bible  into  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  the  necessity  of  leaving 
them  to  be  instructed  by  their  pastors  in  whatever  things  these 
should  judge  most  profitable  for  them,  and  level  to  their  capac- 
ities. 

If  these  principles  be  correct,  then  it  is  false  to  say  that  the 


1 1  was  once  urged  to  pledge  myself  not  to  examine  candidates  for  Deacon's 
Orders  in  the  original  of  the  apostolic  epistles.  I  inquired,  in  reply,  whether 
deacons  were  to  be  allowed  to  expound  those  epistles  to  the  congregations,  in 
their  preaching. 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  WRITINGS  OF  PAUL.  77 

Christian  religion  was  designed,  or  at  least  is  adapted,  to  be 
that  of  the  mass  of  mankind.  Some,  who  say  that  it  is  so, 
—  while  they  ridicule  the  idea  of  instructing  the  lower  orders 
in  the  evidences  and  in  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  — 
mean  no  more  than  this :  that  it  is  possible  for  a  clown  to  prac- 
tise honesty,  temperance,  and  other  virtues  which  Christianity 
inculcates.  But  it  would  be  thought  strange  to  attribute  an 
acquaintance  with  mechanics  to  savages  and  to  brutes,  on  the 
ground  that  they  employ  the  lever,  keep  the  centre  of  grav- 
ity in  the  right  situation,  and  accommodate  their  movements  to 
mechanical  principles,  of  which  principles  they  know  nothing. 
If  Christianity  were  designed  for  the  people,  it  must  have  been 
designed  that  their  motives  should  be  Christian  faith  and 
Christian  hope,  and  that  they  should  be  able  '<  to  give  a  reason 
of  the  hope  that  is  in  them." 

Am  I  then  contending,  or  did  the  Reformers  mean  to  con- 
tend, that  either  Paul's  epistles  or  the  rest  of  the  Scriptures 
can  be  as  well  understood  by  a  clown  or  a  child  as  by  the 
most  learned  theologian  ?  Surely  not.  The  highest  abilities, 
improved  by  the  most  laborious  study,  are  not  more  than  suffi- 
cient for  the  full  comprehension  of  the  sacred  books ;  but,  if  on 
this  ground  they  are  not  to  be  opened  by  any  who  are  not  so 
qualified,  who  will  ever  become  thus  qualified  ?  If  a  number 
of  books  be  pointed  out,  without  a  knowledge  of  which  the 
apostolic  epistles  cannot  be  fully  understood,  it  may  probably 
be  added,  with  equal  truth,  that  these  books  cannot  be  rightly 
understood  without  a  knowledge  of  those  epistles.  If  we  are 
to  begin  at  all,  we  must  begin  somewhere ;  and  we  must,  of 
course,  begin  in  imperfection.  Else,  it  might  be  said,  that, 
since  veteran  soldiers  are  alone  well  fitted  to  perform  their 
part,  therefore  none  but  veterans  should  be  brought  into  the 
field.  The  obvious  and  honest  way  of  proceeding  is,  not  to 
postpone  altogether  the  study  of  any  part  of  Scripture  till  we 
7* 


78  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

are  qualified  for  the  full  comprehension  of  it  (which,  on 
such  a  plan,  we  never  should  be,  since  our  minds  would  be 
preoccupied  with  human  expositions),  but  to  study  both  the 
Scriptures,  and  the  best  helps  towards  their  explanation  we  can 
obtain,  simultaneously;  at  the  same  time  carefully  guarding 
ourselves  against  arrogantly  supposing  that  we  do  perfectly 
understand  anything  at  the  first  glance.  It  is  to  this  arrogant 
disposition  that  the  Scriptures  are  dangerous.  "  A  little  learn- 
ing "  is  the  utmost  that  the  generality  can  attain :  it  is  what  all 
must  attain  before  they  can  arrive  at  great  learning :  it  is  the 
utmost  acquisition  of  those  who  know  the  most,  in  comparison 
of  what  they  do  not  know.  "  A  little  learning  "  is,  then,  only 
(and  then  always)  "  a  dangerous  thing "  when  we  overrate 
it,  and  are  not  aware  of  its  littleness. 

On  the  sources  of  some  of  the  principal  errors  which  have 
sprung  from  the  misinterpretation  of  this  apostle's  writings, 
and  the  means  of  guarding  even  ordinary  Christians  against 
them,  I  propose  to  offer  some  more  particular  remarks  in  some 
of  the  following  Essays. 

For  all  that  has  been  here  urged,  I  should  be  glad  to  think 
that  there  is  little  occasion.  To  offer  proofs  of  the  existence 
of  the  error  in  question,  such  proofs  as  might  be  offered,  is 
what  could  not  be  done  with  propriety.  Some  of  my  readers 
may,  perhaps,  regard  me  as  combating  a  shadow,  from  having 
themselves  never  met  with  that  depreciation  of  Paul's  epistles 
which  I  have  been  deprecating.  I  have  only  to  hope  they 
never  may.  But  I  fear  that  on  inquiry  they  will  find  it  but 
too  prevalent,  —  that  they  will  even  meet  with  some  who  have 
gone  the  length  of  proposing  that  no  part  of  the  Scriptures 
should  be  printed  for  circulation  among  the  mass  of  the  people 
^except  the  four  Gospels,  on  the  ground  that  they  contain  all 
things  needful,  and  that  "  the  things  hard  to  be  understood  "  in 
the  epistles  would  serve  only  to  perplex  and  mislead  them. 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  THE  WRITINGS  OF  PAUL.  /  9 

A  man  who  gives  utterance  to  such  an  opinion,  we  may  be 
sure,  entertains  it ;  but  how  can  we  be  sure  that  all  those  who 
do  not  give  it  utterance  are  strangers  to  it  ? 

§  IV.     There  is  good  reason,  however,  to  believe  that  the 
chief  objection  to  Paul's  writings  is  not  from  the 

Paul's     -writings 

things  hard  to  be  understood  which  they  con-     dreaded     ciiicfly 

from  the  unaccept- 

tain,  but  from  the  things  easy  to  be  understood,  abicnessof  someof 
the  doctrines  so  plainly  taught  by  him,  —  "  that 
by  grace  we  are  saved,"  "  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,"  "  but 
eternal  life  is  the  gift  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ,"  that  our 
most  perfect  righteousness  can  never  entitle  us  to  claim  reward 
at  the  hands  of  God,  nor  our  own  unaided  strength  enable  us 
to  practise  that  righteousness  ;  but  that  the  meritorious  sacri- 
fice of  Christ  is  the  only  foundation  of  the  Christian's  hope, 
and  the  aid  of  his  Spirit  the  only  support  of  the  Christian's  vir- 
tue. These  are  doctrines  humbling  to  tlie  pride  of  the  human 
heart,  and  unacceptable  to  the  natural  man ;  and  therefore  they 
are  rejected  by  many,  as  leading  to  immoral  life,  and  as  favor- 
ing the  notion  that  we  may  "  continue  in  sin  that  grace  may 
abound ;  "  though  the  moral  precepts  of  this  very  apostle  in 
every  page,  and  his  enforcement  of  a  conformity  to  them  as 
indispensable  to  the  Christian's  acceptance  with  God,  fly  in 
the  face  of  every  one  who  dares  thus  to  wrest  these  Scriptures 
to  his  own  destruction. 

But  the  dislike  shown  to  the  apostle's  writings  by  those  who 
on  these  grounds  decry  him,  is  a  proof,  if  he  was 

The  vehemence 

inspired,   and   they  uninspired,  not  that  he  is     with   which    his 

,  •works    have    been 

wrong,  but  that  they  are.^    If  the  gospel  is  agamst     decried,  a  proof  of 
a  man,  he  will  be  against  the  gospel.     And  the       ^"  *™^  "^  "*" 
more   any  work  is  depreciated   by  those   who  are   resolved 
to  believe  only  just  what  they  please,  the  higher  ought  its  value 

1  See  Gal.  i.  11,  12,  and  2  Cor.  xii.  7-12. 


80  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

to  rise  in  the  estimation  of  those  who  are  willing  to  "  obey  the 
truth."  Now  there  is  no  one  of  the  sacred  writers  whose 
expressions  have  been  so  tortured,  whose  authority  has  been 
so  much  set  at  nought,  as  Paul's,  by  those  who  reject  many  of 
the  most  characteristic  doctrines  of  the  gospel;  which  is  a 
plain  proof  that  they  find  him  a  formidable  opponent,^  and 
which  should  lead  those  who  prize  the  purity  of  the  gospel  to 
value  his  writings  the  more.  I  am  far  from  insinuating  that 
the  great  truths  of  Christianity,  —  the  doctrines  of  the  divinity 
of  our  blessed  Lord,  of  his  atoning  sacrifice,  and  of  salvation 
through  him,  —  rest  on  this  apostle's  authority  alone  ;  but  a  pre- 
sumption is  afforded,  by  the  very  hostility  shown  towards  him 
by  the  opponents  of  those  doctrines,  that  he  is  particularly  full 
and  clear  in  enforcing  them,  and  that  he  adds  great  confirma- 
tion to  the  testimony  in  their  favor  of  the  other  sacred  writers. 
It  is  perhaps  to  be  wished,  accordingly,  that  those  who,  with- 
out professing  to  reject  Christianity,  have  avowedly  labored  to 
disparage  this  apostle,  and  to  represent  him  as  at  variance  with 
his  Master,  had  written  with  more  ability,  and  had  attracted 
more  notice,  in  order  that  they  might  have  directed  men's 
attention  more  strongly,  not  only  to  Paul's  claims  to  a  divine 
commission,  but  also  to  his  importance  as  a  bulwark  of  the 
Christian  faith.^  And  I  wish  also  that  some  of  them  had  set 
forth  more  strongly  the  alleged  discrepancy  between  Paul's 
doctrines  and  those  of  the  discourses  of  Jesus.  This  cer- 
tainly might  have  been  done  ;  since,  as  was  above  remarked, 
though  there  is  nothing  contrary  in  the  one  to  the  other,  there 
is  much  that  is  different,  as  the  nature  of  the  case  required, 

1  The  Mahometans,  who  acknowledge  tlie  authority  of  the  four  Gospels 
(though  they  pretend  the  Christians  have  interpolated  them),  hold  the  name  of 
Paul  in  detestation. 

2  At  the  time  when  this  was  written,  a  work  had  recently  appeared,  entitled, 
"  Not  Paul  but  Jesus,"  which  attracted  some  little  attention,  but  was  soon 
forgotten. 


DIFFICULTIES  IX  THE  WRITINGS  OF  PAUL.  81 

—  the  same  doctrines  which  were  but  obscurely  hinted  at 
by  the  one,  being  fully  developed  (the  fit  time  being  come), 
and  earnestly  dwelt  on,  by  the  other.  The  doctrines  which 
Jesus  preached  were  suited  to  the  period  when  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  was  only  at  hand,  and  were  preparatory  to 
the  fuller  manifestation  of  gospel  truth  which  he  revealed  to 
the  Apostle  Paul,  when  his  kingdom  was  established. 

The  attention  which  a  powerful  opponent  would  thus  have 
called  to  a  most  important  subject,  too  often  neglected  by  the 
advocates  of  our  faith,  and  the  light  which  would  in  conse- 
quence have  been  thrown  on  the  subject,  would  have  been  no 
small  benefit  to  the  cause  of  truth.  Opposition  excites  discus- 
sion ;  and  discussion  leads  to  inquiries  which  may  end  in  not 
only  bringing  truth  to  light,  but  impressing  it  forcibly  on  minds 
which  had  been  sunk  in  heedless  apathy.  Next,  after  an  able 
and  full  and  interesting  vindication  and  explanation  of  Paul's 
writings,  the  sort  of  work  whose  appearance  ought  most  to  be 
hailed,  is  a  plausible  attack  on  them;  which,  indeed,  is  the 
most  likely  to  call  forth  the  other.  His  labors  can  never  be 
effectually  frustrated,  except  by  being  kept  out  of  sight.  What- 
ever brings  him  into  notice  will,  ultimately,  bring  him  into 
triumph.  All  the  malignity  and  the  sophistry  of  his  adversa- 
ries will  not  only  assail  him  in  vain,  but  will  lead,  in  the  end,  to 
the  perfecting  of  his  glory  and  the  extension  of  his  gospel. 
They  may  scourge  him  uncondemned,  like  the  Roman  magis- 
trates of  Philippi,  —  they  may  inflict  on  him  the  lashes  of  calum- 
nious censure,  —  but  they  cannot  silence  him.  They  may  thrust 
him  as  it  were  into  a  dungeon,  and  fetter  him  with  their  strained 
interpretations  ;  but  his  voice  will  be  raised  even  at  the  mid- 
night of  unchristian  darkness,  and  will  be  heard  effectually. 
His  prison-doors  will  burst  open  as  with  an  earthquake,  and 
the  fetters  will  fall  from  his  hands ;  and  even  strangers  to 
gospel  truth  will  fall  down  at  the  feet  of  him,  even  Paul, 


»2  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

to  make  that  momentous  inquiry,  "What  shall  I  do  to  be 
saved?" 

May  God  "  grant  [as  the  prayer  of  our  church  expresses  it] 
that,  as  the  light  of  the  gospel  has  been  caused  to  shine  through 
the  preaching  of  that  blessed  apostle,  we,  having  his  wonderful 
conversion  in  remembrance,  may  show  forth  our  thankfulness 
for  the  same,  by  following  the  holy  doctrines  which  he  taught, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 


ESSAY    III 


ON  ELECTION. 

We  learn  from  the  most  undeniable  authority,  that  the  writ- 
ings of  the  blessed  Apostle  Paul  contain  some  i„po,tanceofex- 
"  things  hard  to  be  understood  which  they  that     pi'^i^ii'g  those  parts 

'-'  •'of  Scripture   espe- 

are  unlearned  and  unstable  wrest,  as  well  as  the     ^^i^'y-  f'^™  ^^'^^^ 

dangerous     conse- 

other  Scriptures,  to  their  own  destruction."    Now     quenceshave  been 

/,,,.,  .  drawn. 

as  it  IS  evidently  of  the  highest  importance  to 
guard  against  such  a  danger,  so  it  is  not  less  evident  (as  has 
been  formerly  remarked)  that  this  is  not  to  be  done  by  keep- 
ing in  the  background  these  epistles,  and  withdrawing,  or 
encouraging  Christians  to  withhold,  attention  from  them ;  not 
only  because  it  is  neither  wise  nor  pious  to  neglect  the  instruc- 
tions of  one  who  '*  received  not  his  doctrine  from  men,  but  by 
inspiration  of  Jesus  Christ,  "  but  also  because  the  very  errors 
in  question  will  be  the  more  easily  propagated  by  such  as  appeal 
to  him  in  support  of  them,  in  proportion  as  they  are  allowed 
to  make  this  appeal  uncontradicted,  —  if,  while  we  admit  the 
divine  authority  of  these  works,  we  leave  them  chiefly  in  the 
hands  of  extravagant  fanatics,  to  put  their  own  interpretation 
on  passages  of  which  their  hearers  shall  have  been  taught  no 
better  explanation.  The  Christian  instruction,  in  short,  to  be 
derived  from  a  right  interpretation  of  this  apostle's  works,  and 
the  mischief  resulting  from  a  misinterpretation  of  them,  furnish, 
each,  a  most  powerful  reason  for  the  attentive  study  of  them. 


84  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

I  propose,  accordingly,  to  suggest  some  principles  which 
should  be  kept  in  mind  by  one  who  would  rightly  understand 
this  portion  of  Scripture,  —  principles,  the  neglect  of  which  has 
given  occasion  to  most  of  the  errors  into  which  "  the  unlearned 
and  unstable  "  have  fallen. 

§  I.    It  is  evident  that,  in  order  to  understand  any  author 
thoroughly,  it  is  highly  desirable,  if  not  indis- 

In  order  to  un-  1. 1        -      i_  •  i    •  t  >  i 

derstand  the  Apos-  pcnsaole,  to  DC  acquaiutcd,  in  some  degree,  with 
IhouM  be^rcquain-  ^^^  charactcr,  the  cu-cumstances  in  which  he  was 
ted  with  his  char-    placed,  and  his  habitual  modes  of  thought  thence 

acter  and  situation,       *■  ^ 

and  with  that  of  his    rcsulting.     Nor  will  this  be  sufficient,  unless  we 

hearers. 

have  something  of  the  same  knowledge  respect- 
ing the  persons  to  whom  he  wrote.  And  the  more  remote  any 
work  is,  in  point  of  time  or  of  place,  from  ourselves,  the  more 
diligent  attention  will  be  required  in  the  reader,  not  only  to 
ascertain  these  circumstances,  but  to  keep  them  steadily  and 
constantly  in  view.  Many  things  have  an  obvious  reference 
to  particular  persons,  times,  and  places,  and  cannot  be  at  all 
understood  without  taking  these  into  consideration.  When 
Moses,  for  instance,  or  the  other  sacred  writers,  speak  of  places 
"  beyond  Jordan,"  or  "  on  this  side  of  Jordan,"  every  one  per- 
ceives the  necessity  of  considering  the  local  situation  of  the 
author ;  but  many  other  circumstances,  not  at  all  less  essential 
to  the  right  understanding  of  what  is  said,  are  apt  to  escape 
the  notice  of  one  whose  attention  is  not  steadily  directed  to 
the  application  of  the  principle  laid  down. 

Now  no  one  is  ignorant  that  Paul  was  not  only  a  Jew,  but 
one  strictly  educated  in  the  principles  of  the  most  learned  and 
most  rigid  sect  among  the  Jews  ;  but  this  circumstance  is  not 
always  practically  kept  in  mind  so  much  as  it  ought  to  be. 
No  one  who  reads  his  works  ought  to  lose  sight  of  it  for  a 
moment,  but  constantly  to  bear  in  mind  what  habits  of  thought 


ON  ELECTION.  85 

and  modes  of  expression  would  be  natural  to  a  Jew,  and  to  a 
Jew  of  that  description. 

Inspired,  indeed,  he  was,  with  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel ; 
Jewish  errors  and  prejudices  were  corrected  in  him  by  the 
Spirit  of  truth ;  but  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  this 
inspiration  would  go  any  further  than  was  requisite  to  qualify 
him  for  his  ministry, — that  anything  Jm<fes  errors  and  preju- 
dices would  be  altered. 

If  any  one  should  imagine  that,  because  one  and  the  same 
Sjjirit  taught  one  and  the  same  gospel  to  all  its  appointed  min- 
isters, therefore  every  distinction  between  them  was  done 
away,  all  traces  of  individual  character  necessarily  swallowed 
up  in  one  common  revelation,  an  attentive  study  of  the  sacred 
writers  will  soon  convince  him  of  his  mistake.  Even  of  the 
apostles,  who  were  all  of  them  Jews,  no  two  write  precisely 
alike  :  the  variations  of  individual  character  are  perceptible, 
even  when  in  national  character  they  all  agree.^ 

The  Apostle  Paul's  writings,  then,  must  be  studied  as  those 
of  a  man  not  only  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
Testament,  but  familiar  with  them  from  childhood ;  full  of  an 
early -implanted  and  habitual  reverence  for  them  ;  and  disposed 
to  refer  to  them  for  argument  and  for  illustration  on  every 
possible  occasion.  He  was  likely,  in  short,  to  write  as  a  learned 
and  zealous  Jew,  in  every  point  except  those  in  which  the 
teaching  of  the  Spirit  led  him  to  correct  his  former  notions. 
And  this  divine  monitor,  it  should  be  recollected,  was  so  far 
from  instructing  Christian  ministers  to  keep  the  Old  Testa- 
ment out  of  sight,  that  there  is  no  point  more  strenuously  and 
uniformly  insisted  on  than  the  connection  of  the  Old  and  New 
dispensations.  Christianity  is  invariably  represented,  not  as  a 
new  religion,  but  as  the  completion  of  a  scheme  long  before 

1  On  this  point  I  have  treated  more  at  large  in  the  Bampton  Lectures.    Lect. 
iv.  pp.  124-128. 

8 


86  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

begun ;  it  was  plainly  meant  to  be  engrafted,  not  on  natural 
religion,  but  on  Judaism.  If  this  circumstance  had  been  duly 
attended  to,  many  of  the  heresies  which  have  corrupted  our 
religion  would  have  been  avoided. 

But  what  were  the  character  and  situation  of  this  apostle's 
hearers  ?  He  was,  indeed,  more  especially  the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  ;  but  he  appears,  wherever  he  went,  to  have  addressed 
himself  first  to  his  own  countrymen,  —  his  natural  feelings  of 
warm  attachment  and  partiality  towards  them  being  not  at  all 
forbidden  by  his  heavenly  Guide,  who,  on  the  contrary,  designed 
that  the  Jews  should  have  this  precedence.  The  promises  and 
threats  of  the  gospel  were  to  be  declared  "  to  the  Jew  first,  and 
also  to  the  Greek."  "  It  was  necessary,'^  says  he,  "  that  the 
word  of  God  should  first  have  been  spoken  to  you  ;  but  seeing 
ye  put  it  from  you,  lo !  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles."  It  is  prob- 
able, indeed,  that  the  number  of  Paul's  converts  among  his  own 
brethren  was,  in  most  places,  but  a  small  proportion ;  though 
in  some  of  the  churches  it  appears,  from  several  circumstances, 
that  their  amount  was  not  inconsiderable  ;  and  in  every  church 
it  is  probable  that  Jews  and  "  devout  Greeks  "  (that  is,  such  as 
had  before  renounced  idolatry,  and  acknowledged  the  divine 
origin  of  the  Jewish  religion)  were  to  be  found  among  the 
members,  and  among  the  earliest  members. 

In  those  places,  however,  in  which  the  great  majority  of  the 
Christian  brethren  were  converted  Gentiles,  it  might  have  been 
supposed  that  the  Old  Testament  would  have  been  but  little 
studied  or  thought  of.  So  far,  however,  was  this  from  being 
the  case ;  so  far  was  Paul  from  allowing  the  Jewish  Scriptures 
—  those  Holy  Scriptures  which  he  represents  as  "  able  to  make 
us  wise  unto  salvation"  —  to  be  depreciated,  or  the  Christian 
revelation  to  be  regarded  as  any  other  than  a  completion  of  the 
Mosaic,  that  he  seems  to  have  expected,  in  all  his  converts,  an 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Old  Testament ;  and  to  have 


ON  ELECTIOIT.  b/ 

earnestly,  and  not  unsuccessfully,  inculcated  the  necessity  of 
interpreting  the  one  scheme  by  the  other,  as  two  parts  of  the 
same  great  whole,  and  of  considering  "  whatsoever  things  were 
written  aforetime  "  as  "  written  for  their  learning."  On  the 
Corinthian  church,  for  instance,  he  impresses  this  principle  as 
of  high  importance ;  and  though  but  a  small  proportion  of  them 
probably  were  Jews,  he  evidently  implies  that  they  were  not 
on  that  account  the  less  interested  in  all  the  concerns  of  the 
Jewish  church,  whose  successor  was  the  Christian :  "  For^  I 
would  not  have  you  ignorant,"  says  he,  "how  that  all  our 
fathers  were  under  the  cloud,  and  all  passed  through  the  sea ; 
and  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea. 

But  with  many  of  them  God  was  not  well  pleased ;  for 

they  were  overthrown  in  the  wilderness."  And  after  touching 
on  several  points  in  the  history  of  the  church  of  Israel,  he 
assures  the  Corinthians  that  "  these  things  happened  unto  them 
for  ensamples  ;  and  they  are  written  for  our  admonition,  upon 
whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are  come  ;  "  that  is,  who  live  under 
the  last  dispensation  of  God ;  which  is  not,  like  the  Mosaic,  to 
be  succeeded  by  any  other,  but  will  last  to  the  end  of  the 
world. 

The  passage  just  mentioned  is  only  one  out  of  many  in  which 
the  apostle  adverts  to  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  ujg  continual 
Testament  as  of  high  importance  to  be  studied  MoTair^dispensa- 
by  Christians.     And  the  frequent  allusions  he     «°".^wchwasthe 

•'  ^  shadow  of  the  gos- 

makes  to  them  as  familiar  to  his  hearers,  and  of  p^'- 
acknowledged  value  in  their  eyes,  convey  his  judgment  on  the 
subject  far  more  strongly  than  so  many  direct  admonitions : 
they  indicate  what  was  the  early,  the  habitual,  and  the  univer- 
sal mode  of  instruction  employed  by  himself  and  all  the  Chris- 
tian teachers.     No  Christian,  therefore,  who  would  copy  the 

1  I  have  here  followed  the  reading  of  the  best  MSS.,  which  greatly  clears  the 
sense. 


88  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

pattern  of  this  divine  Teacher,  will  leave  the  Old  Testament 
out  of  sight ;  but  will  learn  from  him  that  the  former  dispen- 
sation must  be  carefully  attended  to  by  one  who  would  rightly 
understand  the  gospel. 

And  attention  to  the  same  pattern  may  also  serve  to  guard 
us  against  another  error,  in  some  respects  the  opposite  of  that 
just  alluded  to,  —  the  confounding  together  of  the  two  systems 
in  one  confused  medley,  and  blending  the  law,  which  had  "  a 
shadow  of  good  things  to  come,"  with  the  gospel,  which  is  the 
fulfilment  of  it ;  an  error  not  uncommon  with  those  who  un- 
thinkingly study  the  Bible  as  one  book,  without  taking  pains 
to  discriminate  the  several  parts  of  the  great  scheme  of  Prov- 
idence it  relates  to.  The  two  dispensations  correspond  in 
almost  every  point,  but  coincide  in  very  few.  Like  the  flower 
and  fruit  of  any  plant,  the  one  is  a  preparation  for  the  other ; 
and  each  of  its  parts  bears  some  relation  to  the  other,  though 
they  have  but  a  faint  resemblance,  —  the  parts  which  are  the 
most  prominent  and  striking  in  each,  respectively,  being  least 
so  in  the  other ;  so  that  if  any  one  were  to  give  a  representa- 
tion in  which  the  parts  of  the  blossom  and  of  the  perfect  fruit 
were  confusedly  combined  and  intermingled,  it  would  be  an 
unnatural  anomaly,  very  unlike  either  the  one  or  the  other. 
The  example  of  the  apostle's  teaching  furnishes,  as  I  have 
said,  a  safeguard  against  this  error:  he  all  along  represents 
the  law  as  connected  with  the  gospel,  as  the  shadow  with  the 
substance,  as  "  our  schoolmaster  to  bring  us  unto  Christ ; " 
and  the  condition  of  the  Israelites  as  analogous  to  that  of  Chris- 
tians, but  in  many  points  dissimilar. 

In  several  instances,  indeed,  this  correspondence  and  this 
difference  are  pretty  generally  perceived  and  acknowledged. 
That  the  paschal  lamb,  for  instance,  and  the  other  Jewish  sac- 
rifices, were  typical  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  the  true  Lamb 
of  God,  —  the  sin-offerings  and  other  outward  rites  of  purifica- 


ON  ELECTION.  89 

tion  having  the  same  relation  to  ceremonial  offences,  and  exter- 
nal legal  justification  from  them,  that  the  offering  of  our  Lord 
has  to  the  wiping  away  of  moral  guilt,  and  the  inward  sanc- 
tification  of  the  heart,  —  this  is  a  point  on  which  few  professed 
Christians  are  ignorant  or  doubtful ;  the  corres'pondence^  and, 
at  the  same  time,  dissimilarity,  having  been  explicitly  stated, 
in  the  Epistle  to  the   Hebrews :  "  If  the  blood  of  bulls  and 
of  goats,  and  the  ashes  of  an  heifer  sprinkling  the  unclean, 
sanctifieth   to    the  purifying   of  the  jlesh^   how  much  more 
shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who,  through  the  Eternal  Spirit,  of- 
fered  himself  without   spot   to  God,   purge   your   conscience 
from  dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God  ?  "     That  the  prom- 
ised land  of  Canaan,  again,  —  the  place  of  rest  to  which  Jesus 
(Joshua)  conducted  the  Israelites,  —  is  a  type  of  the  heavenly 
rest  to  which  our  Jesus  is  ready  to  lead  his  followers,  is  under- 
stood and  admitted  by  most  Christians.     That  the  sanction  of 
extraordinary  temporal  blessings  and  judgments,  both  national 
and  individual,  under  which  the  Jews  lived,  is  withdrawn,  and 
succeeded  by  "  the  bringing  in  of  a  better  hope  '*  than  that  of 
the  law,  is  a  truth  not  so  well  understood  by  many  Christians. 
There  is  a  leaning  in  the  minds  of  not  a  few  to  an  expectation 
of  that  inevitable  vengeance  in  this  world  on  the  wicked  which 
was  denounced  under  the  Mosaic  law ;  and  of  that  temporal 
prosperity,  as  the  reward  of  obedience,  which  forms  no  part 
of  the  promises  of  a  religion  whose  Founder  was  crucified,  and 
whose  apostles  were,  "  if  in  this  life  only  they  had  hope  of 
Christ,  of  all  men  most  miserable." 

The  better-instructed  part,  however,  of  the  Christian  world, 
perceive  the  distinction  in  this  point  between  the  Old  and  New 
dispensations ;  and  understand  that  the  promises  and  threats  of 
the  one  are  applicable,  figuratively  only,  to  the  other,  —  the 
rewards  and  punishments  of  a  future  life  being  substituted  for 
those  of  the  present. 

8* 


90  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

There  are  many  other  points,  however,  which  are  frequently- 
overlooked,  in  which  the  correspondence  between  the  two  sys- 
tems is  such  as  to  make  the  former  a  most  useful  interpreter  of 
the  latter.  And  when  we  consider  what  a  familiar  acquaintance 
with  the  law,  and  with  the  history  of  the  Jews,  Paul  had  him- 
self, and  expected  in  his  hearers,  we  cannot  doubt  that  this 
interpreter  must  be  perpetually  consulted,  if  we  would  rightly 
understand  his  epistles. 

§  II.    One  only  of  the  cases  to  which  this  principle  may  be 
Disputes  relative     applied  wiU  bc  noticcd  in  the  present  Essay.    A 
to  Election.  qucstiou,  which  is  one  of  the  most  momentous 

ever  agitated  among  Christians,  may  be,  I  think,  completely 
set  at  rest  by  such  a  mode  of  consulting  the  Old  Testament  as 
has  been  recommended.  The  question  I  allude  to,  is  that  relat- 
ing to  such  as  are  called  by  this  apostle,  and  by  the  rest,  the 
"  elect  "  or  "  chosen  people  "  of  God,  "  called  out  of  the  world 
[to  be]  saints,"  ^  and  inheritors  of  eternal  life,  by  God's  favor, 
or  grace  through  Christ.  It  is  known  that  differences  of  no 
trifling  moment  exist  among  Christians  in  their  opinions  on  this 
subject.  Some  maintain,  as  is  well  known,  that  there  are 
among  the  members  of  Christ's  visible  church  two  classes  of  per- 
sons, the  elect  and  the  non-elect,  who  are  both  fixed  upon  arbi- 
trarily by  God's  eternal,  immutable,  unconditional  decree ; 
that  those  who  are  the  elect,  the  "  called  [to  be]  saints,"  are 
regenerate,  and  made  sons  of  God  by  his  Spirit,  —  are  justi- 
fied in  his  sight  through  the  merits  of  Christ,  —  are  sanctified 
and  led  in  the  paths  of  Christian  holiness  by  the  influence  of 
divine  grace,  and  are  infallibly  conducted  to  eternal  happiness 
in  heaven  ;  and  that  others,  on  the  contrary,  that  is,  all  others, 
though  baptized  into  the  faith,  and  though  they  have  heard  the 

1  The  words  enclosed  in  brackets  have  nothing  corresponding  to  them  in  tlie 
original.    See  Sermon  on  Christian  Saints. 


ON  ELECTION.  91 

offers  of  the  gospel,  are  nevertheless  non-elect,  or  "  reprobate," 
passed  by,  and  rejected  by  God ;  and  consequently  are  no  less 
certainly  doomed  to  everlasting  perdition.^ 

This  account  of  the  gospel  scheme  is  utterly  displeasing  to 
others,  who  maintain  that  the  election  in  question  is  not  arbi- 
trary, but  has  respect  to  men's  foreseen  faith  and  obedience;^ 
that  is,  that  God  decrees  to  elect  such  as  he  foresees  will  be 
obedient  to  his  commands,  and  passes  by  those  whose  disobe- 
dience he  foresees. 

No  candid  and  well-informed  student  of  Scripture  can,  I 
think,  deny  that  arguments  in  support  of  each  of  these  opposite 
doctrines  have  been  alleged  which  have  at  least  some  degree 
of  plausibility  at  first  sight.^ 

1  See  Note  A,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 

2  "  Elect,  according  to  the  foreknowledge  of  God,"  is  an  expression  some- 
times appealed  to  in  support  of  this  view,  but  (as  will  plainly  appear  to  any  one 
who  studies  the  context)  not  correctly.  The  apostle's  design  in  employing  it  will 
be  found,  on  attentive  inquiry,  to  be  this:  It  was  a  stumbling-block  to  the  Jews, 
even  to  those  who  acknowledged  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  that  the  Gentiles  should 
be  admitted  to  equal  privileges  with  themselves.  The  Israelites,  they  pleaded,  had 
been  declared  to  be  God's  peculiar  and  highly-favored  people :  was  it  to  be  sup- 
posed that  he  would  alter  his  plans?  No,  said  the  apostle,  there  is  no  change 
in  his  plans;  but  he  all  along  designed  (and  he  cites  the  prophets  to  prove  his 
assertion)  to  admit,  at  a  future  time,  such  of  the  Gentiles  as  would  hear  his  call 
into  the  number  of  his  people.  This,  indeed,  was  formerly  a  secret  not  under- 
stood by  our  forefathers,  and  now  for  the  first  time  "  made  manifest''''  to  men; 
but  the  design  always  existed  "that  the  Gentiles  should  be  fellow-heirs ;"  the 
mystery  (that  is,  the  doctrine  first  hidden,  and  afterwards  revealed,  which  is  the 
usual  sense  of  the  word  mystery)  of  their  election,  was,  of  course,  always  known 
to  God  himself,  though  but  lately  revealed  to  us.  They  are  "  elect  according  to 
the  forekiwioledge  of  God." 

3  So  widely  spread  apart  are  these  two  schemes  of  interpretation,  that  I  have 
known  a  reviewer,  very  recently,  allude  to  a  certain  author  as  "  an  Arminian,  " 
though  he  had  written  his  dissent  from  the  Arminian  theory,  and  his  rea- 
sons for  it.  The  reviewer,  on  having  this  blunder  pointed  out,  apologized  by 
saying  that  he  had  merely  concluded  him  to  be  Arminian  because  he  was  not 
Calviuist;  and  he  had  supposed  that  every  one  must  be  either  the  one  or  the 
other!  It  is  remarkable  that,  by  a  converse  error,  the  very  same  author  had  been, 
some  years  before,  denounced  as  Calvinistic,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not 
Arminian! 


92  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

In  support  of  tlie  latter  system,  are  urged  the  declarations 
in  Scripture  that  "Christ  died  for  all,"  that  "he  willeth  all 
men  to  be  saved,"  etc.,  as  well  as  the  general  tenor  of  the  gos- 
pel offers  of  salvation,  which  seem  to  leave  all  that  heard  them 
at  full  liberty  to  accept  or  reject  them.  On  the  other  side,  the 
expressions  of  Paul  especially  are  urged,  where  he  speaks  of 
men  as  "  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter,"  who  has  power  to 
make,  "  of  the  same  lump,  vessels  to  honor  and  to  dishonor,"  ^ 
and  who  speaks  of  the  call  to  salvation  as  originating  entirely 
in  the  free  bounty  of  God,  without  reference  to  good  works  of 
ours  either  previous  or  subsequent.  God  hath  chosen  us,  says 
Calvin, —  "non  quia  eramus,  sed  ut  essemus  sancti,"  —  not 
because  we  were,  nor  because  he  foresaw  that  we  should  be, 
but  (according  to  Paul)  in  order  that  we  might  be  holy  in  all 
good  works. 

It  would  be  tedious  and  unnecessary  to  cite  all  the  texts 
that  have  been  appealed  to  by  both  parties  on  this  question, 
and  the  arguments  grounded  on  them.  Suffice  it  to  observe, 
that  they  are  generally  opposed  by  other  arguments  and  other 
texts ;  and  that  each  party  has  generally  succeeded  better  in 
this,  than  in  refuting  and  explaining  those  adduced  by  their 
opponents.  In  particular,  the  explanations  given  by  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  Cavanistic  scheme,  of  the  passages  urged  in  favor 
of  it,  appear  to  some  even  of  themselves  (I  will  not  say  unsat- 
isfactory, but)  so  far  incapable  of  being  satisfactorily  laid  before 
the  mass  of  ordinary  Christians,  that  they  are  often  disposed  to 
apprehend  danger  from  the  study  of  Paul's  epistles,  and  rather 
to  draw  the  attention  of  their  flocks  to  other  parts  of  Scripture 
in  preference. 

I  cannot  but  think  that  an  attentive  examination  of  the  Old 
Testament  will  go  far  towards  furnishing  a  key  to  the  true 
meaning  of  Paul's  and  the  other  apostolic  epistles ;  and  will 

1  For  a  remark  on  this  passage,  see  §  HI.  of  this  Essay. 


ON  ELECTION.  93 

furnish  an  answer  not  only  satisfactory,  but  capable  of  being 
made  clear  to  the  unlearned,  of  the  three  great  questions  on 
which  the  whole  discussion  turns  ;  namely,  first,  Whether  the  di- 
vine election,  as  spoken  of  in  Scripture,  is  there  represented  as 
ARBITRARY,  or  as  having  respect  to  men's  foreseen  conduct  ?  sec- 
ondly, Who  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  elect  ?  and,  thirdly.  In 
WHAT  does  that  election  consist  ? 

In  treating  of  these  questions,  it  should  be  premised  that  I 
design,  in  the  first  instance,  to  look  exclusively  to  the  testimony 
of  Scripture  —  waiving  wholly,  at  present,  the  abstract  questions 
respecting  fate  and  free-will,  which  belong  more  properly  to 
the  province  of  natural  religion  or  of  metaphysics ;  and  also, 
that  my  examination  of  Scripture  will  be  confined  to  the  light 
thrown  generally  on  the  gospel  scheme  by  the  Books  of  Moses. 
The  Christian  church  being  confessedly  the  successor  of  the 
Jewish,  and  the  Christian  dispensation  of  the  Mosaic,  nothing 
can  be  more  reasonable  than  to  aid  our  judgment  respecting 
the  one  by  contemplating  the  other. 

§  III.  Now,  with  respect  to  the  first  question  before  us,  Were 
the  Israelites,  who  were  evidently  God's  called,      ^    ^. 

'  J  ^        QuestioDS  -wheth- 

elect,  or  chosen,  holy,  and  peculiar  people,  —     ^'■>  "^^^^r  the  for- 
mer   dispensation, 

were  they,  I  say,  thus  chosen,  arbitrarily,  or  election  wasarbi- 
not  ?  This  question  seems  to  admit  of  a  speedy 
and  complete  decision.  Moses  clearly  and  repeatedly  states 
that  this  selection  of  them  was  arbitrary.  He  often  reminds 
them  that  they  were  not  thus  singled  out  from  the  midst  of 
other  nations  for  their  own  righteousness,  since  they  were  "  a 
stiff-necked  people,"  but  of  God's  free  goodness,  "who  will 
have  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy,  and  will  be  gracious 
to  whom  he  will  be  gracious ; "  and  "  because  he  had  a  favor 
unto  them."  And  with  respect  to  their  fathers,  though  Abraham 
indeed  was  tried  and  found  faithful  and  obedient,  there  was 


94  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

certainly  an  arbitrary  choice  made  of  Jacob  in  preference  to 
his  elder  brother  Esau;  which,  indeed,  is  one  of  the  cases 
referred  to  by  the  apostle,  who  remarks,  that,  "  while  the 
children  were  yet  in  the  womb,  and  had  done  neither  good  nor 
evil,"  it  was  declared  by  the  oracle  of  God  that  "the  elder 
should  serve  the  younger."  Nor,  again,  it  should  be  observed, 
could  that  selection  of  the  children  of  Jacob  have  been 
decreed  with  reference  to  their  foreseen  faith  and  obedience ; 
since  we  know  how  eminently  deficient  they  were  in  those  qual- 
ifications, —  stubborn  and  rebellious,  continually  falling  into 
idolatry  and  other  sins,  —  forgetting  what  great  things  God 
had  wrought  for  them,  and  undervaluing  their  high  privilege. 

It  would,  indeed,  be  most  presumptuous  to  pronounce  that 
God  had  no  reasons  for  his  selection  of  the  Israelites.  Doubt- 
less he  had  good  reasons  for  it ;  but  these  are  not  made  known 
to  us.  As  far  as  our  knowledge  extends,  the  choice  was  arbi- 
trary. 

The  divine  election,  then,  under  the  old  dispensation,  was,  it 
is  manifest,  entirely  arbitrary;  but,  in  the  second 

Who  were  elected.  ^  •'  ./  '  7 

place,  who  were  the  objects  of  it  ?  Evidently, 
the  whole  nation^  without  any  exception.  They  were  aU 
brought  out  of  Egypt  by  a  mighty  hand,  and  miraculously  de- 
livered from  their  enemies,  and  received  the  divine  command- 
ments through  Moses,  who  uniformly  addressed  them  —  not 
some,  but  all  —  as  God's  chosen,  holy,  and  peculiar  people. 
But,  lastly,  what  was  the  nature  of  this  election  of  the  Israel- 
To  what  the  elect  itcs  ?  to  whut  wcrc  they  thus  chosen  by  their 
were  chosen.  Almighty  Rulcr  ?   Wcrc  they  elected  absolutely 

and  infallibly  to  enter  the  promised  land,  and  to  triumph  over 
their  enemies,  and  to  live  in  security,  wealth,  and  enjoyment  ? 
Manifestly  not.  They  were  elected  to  the  privilege  of  having 
these  blessings  placed  within  their  reach,  on  the  condition  of 
their  obeying  the  law  which  God  had  given  them ;  but  those 


ON  ELECTION.  95 

who  refused  this  obedience  were  not  only  excluded  from  the 
promised  blessings,  but  were  the  objects  of  God's  especial  judg- 
ments far  beyond  those  inflicted  on  the  heathen  nations,  who 
had  not  been  so  highly  favored,  whose  idolatry  and  wickedness 
was,  generally  speaking,  far  less  uniformly  and  severely  visited. 
"  With  a  mighty  hand  and  with  a  stretched-out  arm,  and  with 
fury  poured  out  will  I  rule  over  you,"  was  the  threat  de- 
nounced against  the  disobedient  Israehtes  ;  of  the  fulfilment  of 
which  numerous  instances  are  recorded  in  Scripture  ;  and  one 
most  striking  one  is  before  our  eyes,  —  the  forlorn  and  ruined 
condition,  as  a  nation,^  at  the  present  day,  of  those  who  rejected 
the  long-promised  Messiah,  and  invoked  his  blood  upon  "  them- 
selves and  on  their  children."  Still,  however,  whether  obedient 
or  rebellious,  they  were  all  of  them  the  peculiar  and  elect  peo- 
ple of  God ;  because  on  all  of  them  —  on  every  individual, 
without  exception,  of  that  people  — the  privileges  were  be- 
stowed, and  to  every  one  of  them  the  offer  made,  of  God's  es- 
pecial blessing  and  protection,  on  condition  of  their  conforming 
to  the  commands  he  had  condescended  to  give  them.  But 
whether  they  would  thus  conform  or  not,  was  all  along  studi- 
ously represented  by  Moses  as  a  matter  entirely  dependent  on 
themselves.  "  Behold,"  says  he,  "  I  have  set  before  you  this 
day  good  and  evil,  blessing  and  cursing ;  now,  therefore,  choose 
blessing." 

The  election,  then,  of  the  Jews  was  arbitrary  indeed  ;  but  it 
was  an  election,  not  to  blessing,  absolutely,  but  to  a  privilege 
and  advantage,  —  to  the  offer  and  opportunity  of  obtaining  a 
peculiar  blessing,  such  as  was  not  placed  within  the  reach  of 
other  nations.  Whether  they  would  accept  the  offer,  or  draw 
down  God's  curse  on  them  by  their  disobedience,  rested  with 
themselves.  And  that  they  were  left  at  liberty  to  pursue  this 
latter  course  is  plain,  from  this  most  remarkable  circumstance  — 

1 1  have  enlarged  on  this  subject  in  the  Discourse  on  National  Blessings  and 
Judgments. 


96  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

that  of  all  the  adult  individuals^  of  them  who  came  out  of 
Egypt,  and  heard  the  law  delivered  from  Mount  Sinai,  two  only 
(besides  the  Levites)  reached  the  promised  land.  Of  the  rest, 
the  whole  generation  were  cut  off  in  the  wilderness  for  their 
disobedience. 

Now,  to  apply  these  observations  to  the  gospel  dispensation, 
it  is  plain,  as  has  been  said,  that  the  Christian 

Application,  by- 
analogy,  to  the  gos-     church  stands  in  the  place  of  the  Jewish, — that  it 

pel  scheme.  ,..,,..  « 

succeeds  it  m  the  divme  lavor,  and  enjoys,  not 
the  same  indeed,  but  corresponding  benefits  and  privileges. 
It  is  reasonable,  therefore,  to  suppose,  that  since  both  dispen- 
sations are  parts  of  the  one  plan  of  the  one  heavenly  Author, 
those  benefits  and  privileges  should  be  bestowed  according  to 
a  similar  system  in  each.  The  Christian  religion,  however,  is 
not,  like  the  Jewish,  confined  to  one  nation,  nor  the  Christian 
worship  to  one  placQ,  like  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  The 
church  of  Christ  is  open  to  all  to  whom  the  gospel  has  been 
announced,  and  comprehends  all  who  acknowledge  it.  The  in- 
vitations of  that  gospel  are  general ;  all  members  of  that  church 
are  "  called  and  elected  "  by  God,  and  are  as  truly  his  people, 
and  under  his  especial  government,  as  the  Israelites  ever 
were.^  And  though  they  do  not  consist  of  any  one  nation  in 
particular,  they  are  arbitrarily  selected  and  called  to  this  priv- 
ilege, out  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  in  contradistinction  from 
their  unenlightened  ancestors,  according  to  God's  unsearchable 
will,  for  reasons  known  to  him  alone,  no  less  than  the  Israelites 
were  of  old.     Some  nations,  we  know,  had  the  gospel  preached 

1  Exclusive  however,  it  appears,  of  the  tribe  of  Levi. 

2  It  is  very  remarkable  that  the  apostles  never  themselves  applied  to  their  con- 
verts the  title  of  "  Christians."  They  preferred  calling  them  by  titles  -which 
had  long  been  known  as  designating  God  s  peculiar  people  of  old.,  —  the  Israelites 
after  the  flesh;  such  as  "saints,"  "brethren,"  "elect"  or  "chosen,"  etc.,  in 
order,  no  doubt,  to  point  out  that  the  gospel  was  a  sequel  to  the  Mosaic  dispen- 
sation, and  that  the  believers,  of  all  races,  were  become  by  adoption  "the  Is- 
BAEL  of  God. '    See  Sermon  on  Christian  Saints. 


ON  ELECTION.  97 

to  them  long  before  others  :  the  apostles  were  directed  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  what  countries  they  should  first  visit  and  enlighten 
by  there  ministry ;  and  many  there  are  that  remain  in  igno- 
rance of  Christianity  to  this  day. 

We  can  give  no  account  of  this  distinction,  but  that  such 
is  God's  pleasure.  No  reason  that  we  know  of  can  be  as- 
signed why  we  ourselves,  for  instance,  in  this  country,  should 
have  received  the  light  of  the  gospel,  while  many  other  regions 
of  the  earth  remain  in  the  darkness  of  idolatry.  The  "  calling  " 
and  selection  of  us  and  of  other  Christians  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  true  God,  seems  as  arbitrary  as  that  of  the  Israelites. 
And  as  this  promise  belonged  not  to  some  only,  but  to  every 
one,  of  that  nation,  whether  he  chose  to  avail  himself  of  it  or 
to  convert  it  into  a  heavy  curse  by  his  neglect  of  it,  so  we 
may  conclude  that  every  Christian  is  called  and  elected  to  the 
Christian  privileges,  just  as  every  Jew  was  to  his  ;  but  that  it 
rests  with  us  to  use  or  abuse  the  advantage.^  The  Jews  were 
not  chosen  to  enjoy  God's  favor  and  to  enter  into  the  promised 
land  absolutely,  but  to  have  the  offer  of  that  favor,  and  the 
promise  of  that  land,  on  condition  of  their  obedience  ;  and  as 
many  as  were  rebellious,  perished  in  the  wilderness.  So,  also, 
we  may  conclude,  no  Christian  is  elected  to  eternal  salvation 
absolutely ;  but  only  to  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  to  the 
privileges  of  the  Christian  church,  to  the  offer  of  God's  Holy 
Spirit,  and  to  the  promise  of  final  salvation,  on  condition  of 
being  a  faithful  follower  of  Christ. 

Such,  I  say,  we  might  antecedently  conjecture,  must  be  the 
right   interpretation  of  the  apostle's   language, 
considering  how  constantly  and  how  clearly  all     Paurs  express  au- 

.  .  thority,  and  by  the 

the   circumstances  of  the  old  dispensation  must     analogy  of  God's 

general  providence. 

be   supposed   to   have  been   beiore   his   mind. 

But  in  the  instance  now  before  us  we  are  not  left  to  conjecture  : 

1  See  the  last  Essay  in  this  volume. 


98  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

he  himself  draws  the  parallel  for  us,  and  strongly  directs  our 
attention  to  it ;  reminding  us,  in  the  most  distinct  manner,  of 
the  principles  by  which  we  are  to  be  guided  in  our  examina- 
tion of  the  gospel  scheme.  He  not  only  always  addresses  his 
converts  (the  very  persons  whom  he  all  along  congratulates  as 
the  called,  and  favored,  and  elect  of  God)  as  if  it  depended  on 
themselves  to  avail  themselves,  or  not,  of  these  offers,  to  "  lay 
hold  on  eternal  life,"  or  to  forfeit  it  by  their  own  neglect,  but 
he  also  warns  them,  from  the  very  example  of  the  Israelites, 
against  the  error  of  misunderstanding  what  it  was  to  which 
they  were  elected.  For  some  of  them,  it  is  probable,  having 
been  always  addressed  as  the  "  chosen  "  of  God,  were  disposed 
to  indulge  in  careless  security,  relying  on  their  baptismal 
privileges,  and  confident  of  final  salvation  independent  of  such 
exertions  as  can  alone  justify  that  confidence ;  even  as  the  Jews 
"  thought  to  say  within  themselves.  We  are  Abraham's  chil- 
dren." 

The  apostle,  accordingly,  himself  expressly  points  out  the 
correspondence  between  their  case  and  that  of  the  children  of 
Israel ;  exhorting  them  to  take  warning  from  the  backslidings 
and  punishment  of  their  predecessors,  God's  favored  people 
of  old.  The  reference  which  he  makes  to  the  case  of  the 
Israelites  follows  immediately  his  illustration  from  the  Isth- 
mian games,  and  is  a  portion  of  the  same  exhortation.  The 
division  between  the  ninth  and  tenth  chapters  (and  many 
readers  are  apt  practically  to  forget  that  these  divisions  are 
not  the  work  of  the  sacred  writers,  but  were  made  many  ages 
after,  for  convenience  of  reference)  is  in  this  place  unfortunate, 
as  breaking  the  continuity  of  the  discourse.  Having  described 
himself  as  "running,"  and  "fighting,"  and  "keeping  his  body  in 
subjection,"  in  order  to  win  "  an  incorruptible  crown,"  and  hav- 
ing exhorted  the  Corinthians,  from  his  own  example,  to  do  the 
same,  he  adds,  ^^For  I  would  not  that  ye  should  be  ignorant," 


ON  ELrXTION.  99 

etc}  And  he  proceeds  to  point  out  to  them,  first,  that  it  was 
not  a  part  only,  but  the  whole  of  the  Israelites  who  were  thus 
favored :  "  All  our  fathers  were  under  the  cloud,  and  all  passed 
through  the  sea,  and  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses  in  the 
cloud  and  in  the  sea."  But,  notwithstanding  this,  as  he  pro- 
ceeds to  point  out,  "  with  many  [most]-  of  them  God  was  not 
well  pleased ;  for  they  were  overthrown  in  the  wilderness. 
Now  these  things  were  our  examples,  to  the  intent  we  should 
not  lust  after  evil  things  as  they  also  lusted ;  neither  be   ye 

idolaters,  as  were  some  of  them ; neither  let  us  commit 

fornication,  as  some  of  them  committed,  and  fell  in  one  day 
three-and-twenty  thousand  ;  neither  let  us  tempt  Christ,  as 
some  of  them  also  tempted,  and  were  destroyed  of  serpents  ; 
neither  murmur  ye,  as  some  of  them  also  murmured,  and  were 
destroyed  of  the  destroyer.  Now  all  these  things,"  he  adds, 
"  happened  unto  them  for  ensamples  ;  and  they  are  written 
for  our  admonition,  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the  world  are 
come ;  "  and  thence  he  deduces  the  great  general  conclusion, 
"  Wherefore,  let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed  lest  he 
fall."  Let  not  the  Christian,  that  is,  though  he  is  one  of  God's 
peculiar  and  favored  people,  as  the  Israelites  were  of  old,  flatter 
himself  that  he  is  chosen,  any  more  than  they  were,  to  the  ab- 
solute attainment  of  a  final  blessing,  but  only  to  the  offer  of  it, 
together  with  the  privileges  and  advantages  which  will  enable 
him  to  attain  it ;  let  him  not  doubt  that  the  option  is  left  to 
him,  as  it  was  to  them,  of  securing,  or  forfeiting,  his  ultimate 
reward  ;  let  him  learn,  from  the  example  of  the  Israelites,  that 
neither  his  promised  inheritance  is  infalHbly  secured  to  him 
without  obedience,  nor  he  himself  absolutely  secured  in  the 


1  This  is  according  to  the  reading  of  the  best  MSS.,  and  of  that  very  ancient 
version  the  Latin  Vulgate.  And  I  believe  all  critics  are  now  agreed  that  the 
right  reading  is  not  §€  but  yap. 

2  ToTs  7r\^7o(riv. 


100  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

requisite  obedience,  without  any  watchfulness  on  his  part  ; 
since  the  far  greater  portion  of  those  whom  God  brought  out 
of  Egypt  never  reached  the  promised  land.^ 

It  is  worth  remembering,  that  the  system  just  described  is 
the  same  with  that  pursued  in  the  ordinary  course  of  God's 
providence  also ;  a  man's  being  born,  for  instance,  heir  to  great 
wealth,  to  high  rank  or  to  a  kingdom,  of  a  healthy  constitution 
or  of  superior  abilities,  does  not  depend  on  himself;  but  it  does 
depend  on  himself  whether  such  advantages  as  these  shall  prove 
a  blessing  to  him  by  his  making  a  right  use  of  them,  or  shall 
aggravate  his  condemnation  through  his  ill  employment  or 
neglect  of  them.^ 

Any  one,  then,  who  diligently  looks  to  the  analogy  both  of 
God's  ordinary  dealings  with  man  and  of  his  former  dispensa- 
tion to  the  Jews,  and  who  carefully  interprets  the  New  Testa- 
ment by  the  Old,  will  be  enabled,  I  think,  to  clear  up  the 
greater  part  of  a  difficulty  which  has  furnished  matter  of  dis- 
pute among  Christians  for  many  centuries.  By  contemplating 
the  correspondence  between  the  Jewish  and  the  gospel  schemes, 
he  will  clearly  perceive  that  there  is  no  such  distinction  among 
Christians  as  the  "  called  "  and  the  uncalled,  the  "  elect  "  and 
the  non-elect ;  that  the  gospel  itself  is  a  call  to  all  who  have 
heard  it,  and  that  those  who,  instead  of  obeying  it,  wait  for  any 
further  call,  are  deluded  by  the  father  of  lies,  who  is  watching 
for  their  destruction.  He  will  perceive  that,  though  all  who 
are  born  in  a  Christian  country,  and  initiated  into  Christ's 
church,  are  arbitrarily  elected  to  this  invaluable  privilege,  their 


1  "  I  will  therefore  put  you  in  remembrance,  though  ye  once  knew  this,  how 
that  the  Lord,  having  saved  the  people  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  afterwards 
destroyed  them  that  believed  not "  ( Jude  5). 

2  The  view  here  taken  of  election  some  have  hastily  supposed  to  be  at  variance 
with  that  of  Archbishop  Sumner  in  his  Apostolic  Preaching;  while  others  have, 
no  less  erroneously,  supposed  them  identical.  On  this  point  I  have  offered  a 
remark  in  the  Preface,  p.  xix. 


ON  ELECTION.  101 

salvation  is  not  arbitrary,  but  will  depend  on  the  use  they  make 
of  their  privileges  ;  those,  namely,  to  which  all  Christians  are 
called,  —  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel,  the  aids  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  the  oflfer  of  eternal  life,  —  privileges  of  which  all  are 
exhorted,  but  none  compelled,  to  make  a  right  use,  and  which 
will  prove  ultimately  either  a  blessing  or  a  curse  to  each, 
according  to  the  use  he  makes  of  them. 

When  it  is  contended,  however,  that  the  term  "  elect,"  or 
that  any  other  scriptural  expression,  is  to  be  in-      ^q  technical  uni- 
terpreted  in  this  or  in  that  sense,  this  must  be     foTelookedT/S 
understood  in  reference  to  the  particular  pas-     Scripture. 
sages  in  question,  or  to  the  generality ;  not  as  implying  that 
no  other  sense  is  anywhere  admissible,  and  that  if  the  expla- 
nation given  be  correct,  it  must  hold  good  in  every  passage 
where  the  word  occurs.     For  instance,  when  the  apostles  ad- 
dress their  converts  universally  as  the  "  elect "  or  "  chosen  "  of 
God,  even  as  the  whole  nation  of  Israel  were  of  old  his  chosen, 
this  must  be  understood  of  their  being  chosen  out  of  the  whole 
mass  of  the  Gentiles  to  certain  peculiar  privileges,  unknown  to 
successive   generations  of  their  ancestors,  but  of  which   they 
were  called  and  invited  to  avail  themselves.     But  our  Lord 
applies  the  word  diiferently  in  the  parables  of  the  laborers  of 
the  vineyard,  and  of  the  marriage  feast.    The  wedding,  he  tells 
us,  was  furnished  with  guests  by  an  indiscriminate  collection 
of  all  that  could  be  found  in  the  highways  ;  but  the  guest  who 
neglected  to  put  on  the  wedding  garment^  was  "  cast  into  the  outer 
darkness ; "  "  for  many,"  he  adds,  "  are  called,  but  few  chosen,"  — 
many,  that  is,  are  "  called  "  to  the  enjoyment  of  high  privileges, 
but  few  make  such  a  use  of  the  advantage  as  to  be  finally  cho- 
sen ;  not,  in  this  instance  (as  the  word  is  more  commonly  em- 
ployed) chosen  to  2i.  privilege  merely,  but  to  ultimate  reward, — 

1  The  g&rme:ui provided  for  Mm,  according  to  Oriental  custom,  hyXixQ  giver  of 
the  feast.    See  2  Kings  x.  22. 

9* 


102  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

chosen  as  having  rightly  availed  themselves  of  that  privilege, — 
selected  from  among  the  faithless  and  disobedient  to  "enter 
into  the  joy  of  their  Lord."  Not  that  in  these  cases  the  word 
"  chosen  "  is  used  in  different  meanings,  but  that  its  application 
is  different;  both  parties  are,  in  the  same  sense,  "chosen," 
but  the  things  to  which  they  are  chosen  are  different,  and  there 
is  a  corresponding  difference  in  the  principles  on  which  the 
choice  is  conducted.^ 

There  is,  indeed,  no  more  fruitful  source  of  error  in  this,  and 
in  many  other  points,  than  the  practice  of  interpreting  Scrip- 
ture on  the  principles  of  a  scientijic  system,  and  endeavoring  to 
make  out,  as  in  mathematics,  a  complete  technical  vocabulary, 
with  precise  definitions  of  all  the  terms  employed,  such  as  may 
be  applied  in  every  case  where  they  occur.^  Nothing,  mani- 
festly, was  further  from  the  design  of  the  sacred  writers  than 
to  frame  any  such  system :  their  writings  were  popular,  not 
scientific ;  they  expressed  their  meaning,  on  each  occasion,  in 
the  terms  which,  on  each  occasion,  suggested  themselves  as 
best  fitted  to  convey  it  ;  and  he  who  would  interpret  rightly 
each  of  these  terms,  must  interpret  it  in  each  passage  accord- 
ing to  the  context  of  the  place  where  it  is  found.  And  wher- 
ever the  term  "elect"  relates  (as  it  does  in  most  instances)  to  an 
arbitrary,  irrespective,  unconditional  decree,  it  will,  I  think,  be 
found  invariably  to  bear  the  sense  in  which  I  have  explained  it. 

That  a  doctrine,  therefore,  so  opposite  to  the  one  here  laid 
Misinterpretatione  <iown,  should  havc  bccu  dcduccd  from  the 
duc!f  brantece-  Scripturcs  by  many  ingenious  and  diligent  stu- 
dent bias.  dents  of  them,  one  can  hardly  avoid  attributing, 
in  some  degree,  to  their  entering  on  the  study  with  a  strong 
antecedent  bias  in  favor  of  the  conclusion  they  draw,  —  in  conse- 
quence of  their  regarding  it  as  a  truth  abstractedly  demonstra- 

1  See  Elements  of  Logic.    Fallacies,  ch.  iii.  §  X. 

2  See  Essay  VI.  §  iy.  and  VII.  §  II. 


ON  ELECTION.  103 

ble  by  reason.  But  for  such  bias  we  should  hardly  find  so 
many  passages  of  Scripture  interpreted  so  hastily,  and  often  so 
much  wrested  fiom  their  obvious  sense,  to  make  them  afford 
confirmation  of  the  favorite  hypothesis. 

For  instance,  the  scriptural  similitude  of  the  potter  and  the 
clay  is  often  triumphantly  appealed  to  as  a  proof  that  God  has 
from  eternity  decreed,  and,  what  is  more,  has  revealed  to  us 
that  he  has  so  decreed,  the  salvation  or  perdition  of  each  indi- 
vidual, without  any  other  reason  assigned  than  that  such  is  his 
will  and  pleasure.  "  We  are  in  his  hands,"  say  these  predes- 
tinarians,  "  as  clay  in  the  potter's,  who  hath  power,  of  the  same 
lump,  to  make  one  vessel  to  honor  and  another  to  dishonor,"  — ' 
not  observing,  in  their  hasty  eagerness  to  seize  on  every  ap- 
parent confirmation  of  their  system,  that  this  similitude,  as  far 
avS  it  goes,  rather  makes  against  them  ;  since  the  potter  never 
makes  any  vessel  for  the  express  purpose  of  being  broken  and 
destroyed.  This  comparison,  accordingly,  agrees  much  better 
with  the  view  here  taken :  the  potter,  according  to  his  own 
arbitrary  choice,  makes  "  of  the  same  lump  one  vessel  to  honor 
and  another  to  dishonor  ;  "  that  is,  some  to  nobler  and  some 
to  meaner  uses  ;  but  all  for  some  use,  —  none  with  design  that 
it  should  be  cast  away  and  dashed  to  pieces.  Even  so  the 
Almighty,  of  his  own  arbitrary  choice,  causes  some  to  be  born 
to  wealth  or  rank,  others  to  poverty  and  obscurity ;  some  in  a 
heathen,  and  others  in  a  Christian  country.  The  advantages 
and  privileges  bestowed  on  each  are  various,  and,  as  far  as  we 
can  see,  arbitrarily  dispensed ;  the  final  rewards  or  punish- 
ments depend,  as  we  are  plainly  taught,  on  the  use  or  abuse 
of  those  advantages.  Wealth  and  power,  and  Christian  knowl- 
edge, and  all  other  advantages,  may  be  made  either  a  blessing 
or  a  curse  to  the  possessor  ;  since  they  plainly  answer  to  the 
talents  in  our  Lord's  parable.  Why  one  servant  had  five  tal- 
ents intrusted  to  him,  another  two,  and  another  one  —  in  what 


104  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

consisted  "  tlieir  several  abilities  "  —  we  are  not  told  ;  though  we 
are  clearly  taught  that  the  distribution  was  not  made  on  the 
ground  of  iho.  foreseen  use  they  would  make  of  the  talents  ;  else 
he  who  received  the  one,  and  kept  it  laid  up  in  a  napkin, 
would  not  have  been  intrusted  with  any.  But  we  are  plainly 
told  on  what  principles  all  these  servants  were  ultimately 
judged  by  their  Master,  —  those  who  had  received  the  five,  and 
the  two  talents,  were  rewarded,  not  from  arbitrary  choice,  but 
because  they  had  rightly  employed  the  deposit  ;  and  the  un- 
profitable servant  was  punished,  not  because  he  had  only  re- 
ceived one,  but  because  he  had  let  it  lie  idle.^ 

The  "  hardening  of  Pharaoh's  heart,"  again,  which  is  men- 
tioned in  Scripture,  is  often  triumphantly  appealed  to  as  a 
recorded  instance  in  which,  according  to  the  hasty  interpreta- 
tion sometimes  adopted,  God  made  the  King  of  Egypt  what 
we  call  hard-hearted,  —  that  is,  cruel  and  re7)iorseless,  —  on 
purpose  to  disply  his  almighty  power  upon  him :  whereas  a 
very  moderate  attention  to  the  context  would  plainly  evince 
that  this  (whether  true  or  false)  is  very  far  from  being  revealed 
in  Scripture  ;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  "  hardening  "  (or,  as 
some  translate,  the  "strengthening")  of  Pharaoh's  heart^  must 
mean  a  judicial  blindness  of  intellect  as  to  his  own  interest,  and 

1  Those  who  profess  to  maintain  the  doctrine  of  absolute  election,  and  not  of 
reprobation,  seem  to  forget  that  (besides  the  other  dilficulties  they  are  exposed 
to)  the  passages  adduced  in  favor  of  the  one,  and  of  the  other,  are  equally  strong, 
and  occur,  usually,  both  together;  so  that  it  seems  unreasonable  to  interpret 
the  one  on  one  principle,  and  the  other  on  a  diflferent  one.  For  example,  '•  Jacob 
have  I  loved,  and  Esau  have  Ihated.".  ..."  One  vessel  to  honor,  and  anotlier  to 
dishonor.'''  ....  He  "  will  have  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy,"  and 
"  Whom  He  will  He  hardeneth^''''  etc. 

2  The  "heart"  is  continually  employed  by  the  sacred  writers  to  denote  the 
understanding ;  as  when  our  Lord  is  said  to  "upbraid  the  disciples  for  their  un- 
belief and  hardness  ofheart,''^  etc.  They  never,  I  believe,  employed  crKXripoKap- 
8la  to  signify  cruelty.  The  same  appears  to  have  been  anciently  the  usage  of 
our  own  language  also;  of  which  we  retain  a  remnant  in  the  expression  of 
"  learning  anything  by  heart.'>' 


ON  ELECTION.  105 

a  vain  and  absurd  self-confidence,  which  induced  him  to  hold 
out  against  Omnipotence.  For,  it  is  remarkable  that  the 
cruellies  he  had  practised  had  all  of  them  taken  place  before 
any  mention  is  made  of  God's  hardening  his  heart.  The 
tyrant  who  had  subjected  to  grievous  slavery,  and  attempted 
to  extirpate,  the  Israelites,  could  scarcely,  after  that,  be  made 
cruel ;  but  the  most  unrelenting  oppressor  would  have  let  them 
go,  through  mere  selfish  prudence,  had  he  not  been  supernat- 
urally  infatuated,  when  he  saw  that  they  were  "  a  snare  unto 
him,"  and  that  "Egypt  was  destroyed"  through  the  mighty 
plagues  inflicted  on  their  account. 

To  sum  up,  then,  in  a  single  sentence,  the  error  which  ap- 
pears to  me  to  have  originated  from  a  neglect 

Errors  in  reason- 

of  the  lesson  which  the   Old   Testament  may     ing  commuted  on 

111*  1  />       1         1         •         •  ^°*^  sides. 

supply,  the  doctrine  that  final  salvation  is  rep- 
resented in  Scripture  as  resting  solely  on  the  arbitrary  appoint- 
ment of  God,  is  deduced  from  two  premises,  —  first,  that  election 
infallibly  implies  salvation  ;  and,  secondly,  that  election  is  en- 
tirely arbitrary  ;  whence  it  follows,  certainly,  that  final  salvation 
is  arbitrary.  Now  many  of  the  opponents  of  this  conclusion 
are  accustomed  to  deny  the  true  premise,  and  admit  the  false 
one  ;  acknowledging  that  election  everywhere  necessarily  im- 
plies ultimate  salvation,  but  contending  that  it  is  not  arbitrary, 
but  depends  on  foreseen  faith  and  obedience,  —  a  position  which 
gives  their  opponents  a  decided  advantage  over  them,  and 
which  the  analogy  of  the  old  dispensation  to  the  new  may 
convince  us  is  untenable  :  whereas,  in  denying  that  election 
does  necessarily  imply  salvation,  they  would  find  the  whole 
analogy  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  general  tenor  of  the 
Apostle  Paul's  admonitions,  so  completely  in  their  favor  that 
the  offensive  conclusions  would  be,  as  far  as  Scripture  testimony 
goes,  irrecoverably  overthrown;  and  it  would  be  seen  tliiit  iLc 
abstract  metaphysical  questions  respecting  fate  and  free-wiil 


106  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

are  left  by  the  Bible  exactly  where  it  finds  them,  —  undecided 
and  untouched. 

§  IV.  Without  entering  at  large  on  the  metaphysical  ques- 
Metaphysicai  dif-  tions  just  alludcd  to,  One  remark  respecting  them 
ftom'^umbrvIJ^e'  ^i"  1^^^'  ^c  irrelevant,  as  it  may  throw  light  on 
of  language.  ^jjg  subjcct  morc  particularly  before  us.     I  mean 

that  the  difficulty  and  confusion  in  which  such  questions 
have  been  involved,  have,  in  a  great  degree,  arisen  from  inat- 
tention to  the  ambiguity  of  one  particular  class  of  words  —  "  pos- 
sible "^  and  "  impossible,"  "  necessary,"  "  certain,"  "  contingent," 
and  many  others  of  corresponding  significations  to  these  —  which 
have,  by  their  undetected  ambiguity,  bewildered  in  a  maze  of 
fruitless  logomachy  most  of  those  who  have  treated  of  the  sub- 
ject. "  Certainty,"  for  instance,  and  "  uncertainty,"  which  in 
the  primary  sense  denote  the  state  of  our  own  mind,  have  thence 
been  transferred  to  the  facts  and  events  respecting  which  we 
are  certain  or  uncertain  ;  and,  ultimately,  have  come  to  be 
considered  as  indicating  an  intrinsic  quality  in  the  events 
themselves,  and  not  merely  the  relation  in  which  they  stand  to 
our  knowledge  or  ignorance  of  them  ;  and  "  necessity,"  as  well 
as  other  words  allied  to  it,  whose  signification  sometimes  refers 
to  coercion,  or  absence  oi  power,  sometimes  again  merely  to  un- 
doubting  and  complete  knowledge,  have  led  to  endless  fallacies 
and  perplexities  when  this  distinction  has  been  overlooked. 

Thus  the  "necessity  "  —  that  is,  the  absence  of  freedom  —  of 
human  actions  has  by  many  been  inferred  from  God's  certain 
foreknowledge  of  them.  And  to  this  it  is  not,  I  think,  altogether 
a  satisfactory  reply,  which  is  often  made,  that  the  divine  pre- 
science does  not  fetter  or  control  men's  actions,  nor  in  any 
way  operate  upon  them,  any  more  than  our  knowledge  of  any 

1  See  Logic,  Appendix,  article  Possible.    See  also  Appendix,  Xo.  I.,  to  Arch- 
bishop KiDg's  Discourse  on  Predestination. 


ox  ELECTION".  107 

fact  is  the  cause  of  its  being  such  ;  for  though  this  is  undenia- 
bly true,  it  hardly  meets  the  difficulty ;  since  it  is  not  meant,  I 
apprehend,  that  the  divine  foreknowledge  makes  actions  neces- 
sary, but  that  it  implies  that  they  are  so ;  just  as  any  one's 
seeing  some  object  before  him  implies  the  real  present  exis- 
tence of  that  object ;  though  no  one  supposes  that  his  seeing  it 
is,  in  any  respect,  the  cause  of  its  existence. 

But  the  chief  source  of  this  perplexity  is  the  equivocal  em- 
ployment of  the  word  "  necessity  ; "  which,  in  one  sense,  re- 
lates to  knowledge  alone,  and  therefore  is,  of  course,  implied  by 
prescience  ;  but  in  another  sense,  relates  to  compulsion,  or  want 
of  power ;  which  prescience  does  by  no  means  imply .^  When 
we  speak,  for  instance,  of  the  "  necessity "  of  mathematical 
truths,  we  mean  merely  that  they  admit  of  no  doubt.  And 
again,  when  we  say  that  a  man  pining  in  captivity  cannot  but 
eagerly  embrace  the  offer  of  freedom  and  restoration  to  his 
country,  we  mean  not  that  he  is  thus  placed  under  compuhio7i, 
but  that  we  are  well  assured  and  have  no  doubt  he  luill  do  so. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  we  say  that,  while  in  captivity,  he 
cannot  hut  submit  to  the  will  of  his  master,  we  mean  that  he 
wants  power  to  resist  and  liberty  to  escape ;  and  when  we 
speak  of  the  necessity  of  death,  we  mean  that  mortals  are 
unable  to  avoid  it. 

If  this  distinction  had  been  duly  attended  to,  it  would  hardly, 
I  think,  have  been  contended  that  that  necessity  of  our  actions 
which  the  divine  prescience  implies  is  at  all  incompatible 
with  our  freedom  and  power  to  act  otherwise.  Whether  our 
conduct  be,  in  fact,  under  any  restraint  or  not,  at  least  no 
restraint  is  implied  by  the  mere  foreknowledge  of  it.  Let  it 
be  supposed  (and  the  case  is  at  least  conceivable)  that  you 
were  fully  and  accurately  acquainted  with  all  the  inclinations 
of  some  man  who  was  left  at  perfect  liberty  to  follow  them  ; 

1  See  Tucker's  "Light  of  Nature,"  chap.  xxvi. 


108  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

you  could  then  as  distinctly  know  and  as  exactly  describe  his 
future  conduct  as  any  past  event ;  and  the  very  ground  of 
your  thus  foreseeing  and  foretelling  it  would  be,  not  his  being 
under  restraint,  but  his  entire  freedom  from  it ;  for,  the  knowl- 
edge of  his  inclination,  if  he  were  not  free  to  follow  it,  would 
not  enable  you  to  foresee  the  event. 

The  divine  foreknowledge,  again,  of  "  contingent "  or  "  un- 
certain "  events,  would  not  have  been  made  a  matter  of  such 
mysterious  difficulty  if  it  had  been  remembered  that  the  same 
thing  may  be  contingent  and  uncertain  to  one  person  which  is 
not  so  to  another  ;  since  those  terms  denote  no  quality  in  the 
events  themselves,  any  more  than  the  terms  "  visible "  and 
"  invisible  "  when  applied  to  eclipses ;  inasmuch  as  that  which 
is  visible  in  one  part  of  the  world,  is  invisible  in  another.  For 
the  same  event  may,  in  like  manner,  be  both  a  contingency 
and  a  certainty ;  though  not  to  the  same  person.  Any  event, 
for  instance,  which  occurred  yesterday  in  some  distant  part 
of  the  world,  is,  to  us,  uncertain  and  contingent ;  and  one  who 
calculates  on  its  having  taken  place  in  this  way  or  that,  would 
be  said  to  run  the  risk  of  fortune,  though  to  those  on  the  spot 
there  is  no  contingency  in  the  case. 

Before  I  dismiss  the  consideration  of  this  subject,  I  would 
suggest  one  caution  relative  to  a  class  of  objections  frequently 
urged  against  the  Calvinistic  scheme,  —  those  drawn  from  the 
conclusions  of  what  is  called  Natural  religion,  respecting  the 
moral  attributes  of  the  Deity ;  which,  it  is  contended,  rendered 
the  reprobation  of  a  large  portion  of  mankind  an  absolute  im- 
possibility. That  such  objections  do  reduce  the  predestinarian 
to  a  great  strait,  is  undeniable  ;  and  not  seldom  are  they  urged 
with  exulting  scorn,  with  bitter  invective,  and  almost  with 
anathema.  But  we  should  be  very  cautious  how  we  employ 
such  weapons  as  may  recoil  upon  ourselves.  Arguments  of 
this  description  have  often  been  adduced,  such  as,  I  fear,  will 


ON  ELECTION.  109 

crush  beneath  the  ruins  of  the  hostile  structure  the  blind  as- 
sailant who  seeks  to  overthrow  it.  It  is  a  frightful,  but  an 
undeniable  truth,  that  multitudes,  even  in  Christian  countries, 
are  born  and  brought  up  under  such  circumstances  as  afford 
them  no  probable,  often  no  possible,  chance  of  obtaining  a 
knowledge  of  religious  truths  or  a  habit  of  moral  conduct,  but 
are  even  trained  from  infancy  in  superstitious  error  and  gross 
depravity.  Why  this  should  be  permitted,  neither  Calvinist 
nor  Arminian  can  explain ;  nay,  why  the  Almighty  does  not 
cause  to  die  in  the  cradle  every  infant  whose  future  wicked- 
ness and  misery,  if  suffered  to  grow  up,  he  foresees,  is  what  no 
system  of  religion,  natural  or  revealed,  will  enable  us  satisfac- 
torily to  account  for. 

In  truth,  these  are  mere  branches  of  the  one  great  difficulty, 
—  the  existence  of  evil,  —  which  may  almost  objections  con- 
be   called   the   only   difficulty  in  theology.     It     Dieted  with  the  or- 

<J  J  ='•'  igin   of  evil,  dan- 

assumes,  indeed,  various  shapes  :  it  is  by  many     gerous   for    both 

parties. 

hardly  recognized  as  a  difficulty,  and  not  a  few 
have  professed  and  believed  themselves  to  have  solv^ed  it ;  but  it 
still  meets  them,  though  in  some  new  and  disguised  form,  at 
every  turn,  —  like  a  resistless  stream,  which,  when  one  channel 
is  damned  up,  immediately  forces  its  way  through  another. 
And  as  the  difficulty  is  not  'peculiar  to  any  one  hypothesis,  but 
bears  equally  on  all  alike,  whether  of  revealed  or  of  natural 
religion,  it  is  better,  in  point  of  prudence  as  well  as  of  fairness, 
that  the  consequences  of  it  should  not  be  pressed  as  an  objec- 
tion against  any.  The  Scriptures  do  not  pretend,  as  some  have 
rashly  imagined,  to  clear  up  this  awful  mystery  —  they  give  us 
no  explanation  of  the  original  cause  of  the  evils  that  exist ;  but 
they  teach  us  how  to  avoid  its  effects.  And  since  they  leave 
this  great  and  perplexing  question  just  where  they  find  it,  it  is 
better  for  us  to  leave  it  among  "  the  secret  things  which  belong 
unto  the  Lord  our  God,"  and  to  occupy  ourselves  with  "  the 
10 


110  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

things  which  are  revealed,"  and  which  concern  us  practically, 
—  which  "  belong  unto  us  and  to  our  children," —  that  we  may 
"  do  all  the  works  of  God's  law." 

And  equally  to  blame  are  both  those  who  profess  to  explain, 
where  God  has  not  given  us  revelation,  the  reasons  of  his 
dealings  with  man,  and  those,  again,  who  insist  on  it  that  in 
such  and  such  a  case  he  had  no  reason  at  all,  but  acted  as  he 
did  "  to  declare  his  sovereignty,"  and  "  for  his  own  glory  ;  " — 
as  if  he  could  literally  desire  glory  !  When  the  Most  High 
has  merely  revealed  to  us  his  will,  we  have  no  right  to  pro- 
nounce that  he  had  no  reasons  for  it  except  his  will  because 
he  has  not  made  them  known  to  us.  Even  an  earthly  king, 
who  is  not  responsible  to  any  of  his  subjects  for  the  reasons  of 
his  commands,  may  think  fit  sometimes  to  issue  commands  with- 
out explaining  his  reasons ;  and  it  would  be  very  rash  for  any 
one  to  conclude  that  he  had  no  reason  at  all,  but  acted  from 
mere  caprice. 

So,  also,  a  dutiful  child  will  often  have  to  say,  "  I  do  so  and 
so  because  my  parents  have  commanded  me  ;  that  is  reason 
enough  for  me."  But  though  this  is  to  the  child  a  very  good 
reason  for  obeying  the  command,  it  would  be  a  very  bad  rea- 
son with  the  parents  for  giving  that  command.  And  he  would 
show  his  fihal  veneration  and  trust,  not  by  taking  for  granted 
that  his  parents  had  no  reason  for  their  commands,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  by  taking  for  granted  that  there  was  a  good  reason, 
both  for  acting  as  they  did  and  for  not  giving  him  any  expla- 
nation. 

It  is  therefore  no  pious  humility,  but,  on  the  contrary,  great 
presumption,  for  man  to  pronounce  —  where  Scripture  does  not 
tell  us  —  either  what  were  the  reasons  of  God's  deaHngs  with 
us,  or  that  he  had  none  at  all.  One  who  pretends  to  be  so  much 
wiser  or  better  informed  than  the  apostles  and  prophets  as  to 
tell  us  what  they  knew  not,  or  at  least  were  not  commissioned 
to  make  known,  must  greatly  overrate  the  faculties  of  man. 


ON  ELECTION.  HI 

We,  indeed,  are  exhorted,  and  very  rightly,  to  "  do  all  for 
the  glory  of  God."  It  is  of  advantage  to  man  that  our  Hea- 
venly Father  should  be  glorified ;  but  to  attribute  this,  as  a 
motive,  to  him,  and  to  suppose  that  he  can  covet  glory  for  his 
own  sake,  is  an  idea  most  absurd  and  most  degrading. 

And  a  truly  humble-minded  Christian,  if  asked  to  explain 
why  any  evil  at  all  is  permitted  to  exist,  will  answer  that  this 
is  a  question  beyond  man's  natural  powers,  and  on  which 
Scripture  gives  us  no  revelation  ;  but  he  would  add,  that  though 
the  Scriptures  do  not  tell  us  what  is  the  cause  of  evil,  they  do 
teach  us  —  which  is  no  small  matter  —  what  is  not  the  cause. 
That  it  cannot  be  from  ill-will,  or  indifference,  or  caprice,  on 
the  part  of  the  Most  High,  is  proved  by  the  sufferings  under- 
gone by  his  Beloved  One,  "in  whom  he  was  well  pleased." 

If  such  a  Christian  be  asked  to  prove  that  it  is  untrue  that 
God  inflicts  evil  - —  as  some  have  dared  to  maintain  —  "  for  no 
cause  at  all,  but  that  such  is  his  will,"  and  that  it  is  for  the 
"  setting  forth  of  his  glory,"  and  the  assertion  "  of  his  sover- 
eignty,"—  if  asked  this,  he  might  reply  that  it  is  fully  disproved 
by  the  Son  of  God  having  been  himself  "  made  perfect  through 
suffering."  For,  no  conceivable  being  —  not  even  a  tyrant  — 
would  ever,  wantonly  and  through  mere  caprice,  inflict  suffer- 
ings on  the  object  of  his  own  strong  love. 

Though  we  know,  therefore,  that  from  some  cause  unknown 
to  us  evil  does  exist,  we  are  assured  that  that  cause  cannot  be 
a  deficiency  of  loving-kindness  in  the  Most  High. 

§  V.  It  is  on  the  above  principles,  —  namely,  that  the  first 
point  of  inquiry  at  least  ought  to  be  what  doctrines  The  chief  object 
are  revealed  in  God's  word,  and  that  we  ought  to     "^  '^^7  '"  ^' 

'  o  what  truths  are  re- 

expect  that  the  doctrines  so  revealed  should  be,     veaied  as  being  rel- 
ative to  man  and 

not  matters  of  speculative  curiosity,  but  o{prac-     practically  needful. 
iical  importance,  such  as  "  belong  to  us  that  we  may  do  them," 


112  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

—  it  is  in  conformity,  I  say,  with  these  principles,  that 
I  have  waived  the  question  as  to  the  truth  or  falsity  of  the 
Calvinistic  doctrine  of  election :  inquiring  only  whether  it  is 
revealed.  And  one  of  the  reasons  for  deciding  that  question 
in  the  negative,  is  the  very  circumstance  that  the  doctrine  is, 
if  rightly  viewed,  of  a  purely  speculative  character,  not  "  he- 
longing  to  us  "  practically ;  and  which  ought  not  at  least,  in 
any  way,  to  influence  our  conduct. 

It  has  indeed  been  frequently  objected  to  the  Calvanistic 
doctrines,  that  they  lead,  if  consistently  acted  upon,  to  a  sin- 
ful, or  to  a  careless,  or  to  an  inactive  life  ;  and  the  inference 
deduced  from  this  alleged  tendency  has  been  that  they  are  not 
true. 

This  suspicion  is  probably  not  grounded  entirely  on  abstract 
reasonings,  but  partly  also  on  the  expressions  actually  used  by 
some  eminent  predestinarian  writers.  Augustine,  for  instance, 
distinctly  says  that  "God  works  in  the  hearts  of  men  to  incline 
their  wills,  whithersoever  he  will,  whether  it  he  to  good  or  to 
evil"  (De  Grati  aet  libero  Arbitrio,  c.  xxi.).  Zwingle,  again 
(De  Providentia  Dei,  Vol.  i.  c.  6,  p.  366),  says  that  "  God  in- 
cites the  robber  to  commit  murder,  and  that  the  man  kills  his 
victim  under  a  divine  impulse." 

Beza  says  the  very  same  (De  Praedest.  Op.  Vol.  iii.  p.  231). 
Calvin  also  expressly  declares  that  "  each  preparation "  (that 
for  salvation  and  that  for  destruction)  "  must  undoubtedly  de- 
pend on  the  secret  counsels  of  God"  (Comm.  on  Rom.  ix.  23), 
and  that  "  because  God  has  willed  a  man's  destruction,  the  ob- 
stinacy of  the  man's  heart  is  a  divine  preparation  for  his  ruin" 
(Calvin,  Inst.  iv.  3).  On  the  other  hand,  "  the  last  day,"  says 
a  modern  writer,  "  will  bring  forward  numberless  examples  of 
salvation  where  divine  grace  has  gloriously  triumphed  in  the 
conversion  of  sinners  in  their  last  moments,  when  the  whole  life 
has  been  spent   before  in  hardness   and   impenitence "    (Dr. 


ON  ELECTION.  113 

Hawker's  ZIon's  Pilgrim,  p.  160).  And  according  to  two 
works  edited  by  IMr,  Romaine,  "  As  it  was  not  any  loveliness 
in  elect  persons  which  moved  God  to  love  them  at  first,  so, 
neither  shall  their  unlovely  backslidings  deprive  them  of  it" 
(Coles  on  God's  Sovereignty,  p.  294).  And,  "though  a  be- 
liever be  black  as  hell,  polluted  with  guilt,  defiled  with  sin,  yet 
in  Christ  he  is  all  fair,  without  spot ;  free  from  sin,  as  viewed 
by  God  in  Christ,  fully  reconciled  to  him,  and  standing  without 
trespasses  before  him"  (Mason's  Spiritual Treas.,  pp.  141, 142). 

And  many  more  such  passages  might  be  cited.  All  of  these 
will  admit,  no  doubt,  of  some  such  explanation  (in  a  "  non-nat- 
ural sense  ")  as  to  be  not  incompatible  with  morality.  But  it 
is  surely  a  culpable  rashness  to  dwell  on  any  doctrines  not 
plainly  contained  in  Scripture  when  they  cannot  possibly  do 
any  practical  good,  and  may  do  harm,  being  then  only  innox- 
ious when  so  explained  as  to  be  wholly  inoperative. 

And  the  more  purely  moral  any  one  is  in  his  own  life,  — 
the  more  free  from  all  taint  of  practical  Antinomianism,  —  the 
greater  is  the  danger  to  which  he  will  expose  many  others,  if 
he  preaches  and  recommends,  by  the  goodness  of  his  own  per- 
sonal character,  doctrines  of  which  one  interpretation,  and  that 
the  most  obvious  (though  not  the  one  he  himself  adopts)  tends 
to  carelessness  in  moral  conduct.  Pie  will  be  like  a  per- 
son of  such  a  constitution  as  to  be  proof  against  the  effects  of 
large  quantities  of  opium  or  of  ardent  spirits,  and  who  allows 
his  example  to  seduce  others  of  weaker  constitution  into  what 
is,  to  them,  a  dangerous  excess. 

But  the  above  is  a  totally  distinct  line  of  argument,  both  in 
premises  and  conclusion,  from  that  now  adverted  to ;  and  I 
mention  it,  not  for  the  purpose  either  of  maintaining  or  im- 
pugning it,  but  merely  of  pointing  out  the  distinction.  What- 
ever may  be,  in  fact,  the  practical  ill-tendency  of  the  Calvinis- 
tic  scheme,  it  is  undeniable  that  many  pious  and  active  Chris- 
10* 


114  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

tians,  who  have  adopted  it,  have  denied  any  such  tendency,  — 
have  attributed  the  mischievous  consequences  drawn,  not  to 
their  doctrines  rightly  understood,  but  to  the  perversion  and 
abuse  of  them,  —  and  have  so  explained  them,  to  their  own 
satisfaction,  as  to  be  compatible  and  consistent  with  active  vir- 
tue.^ Now  if,  instead  of  objecting  to,  we  admit  the  explana- 
tions of  this  system,  which  the  soundest  and  most  approved  of 
its  advocates  have  given,  we  shall  find  that,  when  understood 
as  they  would  have  it,  it  can  lead  to  no  practical  result  what- 
ever. Some  Christians,  according  to  them,  are  eternally  en- 
rolled in  the  book  of  life,  and  infallibly  ordained  to  salvation, 
while  others  are  reprobate  and  absolutely  excluded ;  but  as  the 
preacher  (they  add)  has  no  means  of  knowing,  in  the  first  in- 
stance at  least,  which  persons  belong  to  which  class,  and  since 
those  who  are  thus  ordained  are  to  be  saved  through  the 
means  God  has  appointed,  the  offers  and  promises  and  threat- 
enings  of  the  gospel  are  to  be  addressed  to  all  ahke,  as  if  no 
such  distinction  existed.  The  preacher,  in  short,  is  to  act^  in 
all  respects,  as  if  the  system  were  not  true.^ 

Each  individual  Christian,  again,  according  to  them,  though 

1  Some  have  intimated  a  suspicion  that  there  is  some  connection  between  this 
class  of  doctrines  and  persecution;  adducing,  among  other  things,  the  case  of 
the  burning  of  Servetus  by  Calvin  (who  does  certainly  seem  to  have  been,  indi- 
vidually, of  a  stern,  overbearing,  and  intolerant  character)  and  the  bitter  perse- 
cutions of  the  Arminians  by  the  Calvinists  in  Holland.  The  celebrated  English 
Long  Parliament,  again,  in  which  the  Puritans  predominated,  remonstrated 
strongly  with  the  king  against  the  toleration  afforded  to  Papists  and  Armin- 
ians, both  of  whom  they  were  for  putting  down  by  force.  This  is  noticed  in  the 
Life  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  by  M.  Merle  d'Aubigne,  who,  by  the  way,  seems  him- 
self to  think  that  the  Parliament  was  nearly  right,  and  that  there  is  not  much  to 
choose  between  a  Papist  and  an  Arminian.  But  it  should  be  remembered  that, 
at  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and  long  after,  it  was  held  by  almost  all  denom- 
inations of  Christians  to  be  a  sacred  duty  to  put  down  all  false  doctrine  by  the 
civil  sword.  And  though  this  most  unchristian  principle  is  now  much  less  prev- 
alent than  formerly,  it  is  still  far  from  being  extinct. 

2  It  has  already  been  observed  that  even  past  events  may  often  be,  to  us,  as 
completely  "  contingent "  as  future  ones,  and  demand  from  us  a  corresponding 


ON  ELECTION.  115: 

he  is  to  believe  that  he  either  is,  or  is  not,  absolutely  destined 
to  eternal  salvation,  yet  is  also  to  believe,  that,  if  his  salvation 
is  decreed,  his  holiness  of  life  is  also  decreed ;  he  is  to  judge 
of  his  own  state  by  "  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit "  which  he  brings 
forth.  To  live  in  sin,  or  to  relax  his  virtuous  exertions,  would 
be  an  indication  of  his  not  being  really  (though  he  may  flatter 
himself  he  is)  one  of  the  elect.  And  it  may  be  admitted  that 
one  who  does  practically  adopt  and  conform  to  this  explanation 
of  the  doctrine,  will  not  be  in  any  respect  influenced  by  it. 
When  thus  explained,  it  is  reduced  to  a  purely  speculative 
dogma,  barren  of  all  practical  results. 

If  we  could  suppose  an  intelligent  and  benevolent  physician, 
who  was  ministering  to  a  great  number  of  sick  persons,  to  re- 
ceive from  Heaven  a  communication  by  an  angel  informing 
him  that  of  these  persons  some  would  recover  under  his  treat- 
ment, while  others  were,  according  to  the  will  of  Providence, 
so  deeply  struck  with  disease  that  nothing  could  relieve  them, 
and  that  they  would  inevitably  die,  he  would  probably  say 
that  this  was  just  the  opinion  he  had  himself  already  formed ; 
but  that  he  should  be  glad  to  be  informed  which  of  his  patients 
belonged  to  that  class,  in  order  that  he  might  bestow  all  his  at- 
tention on  the  one,  and  not  waste  his  time  and  medicines  on 
the  other.  But  if  he  were  then  told  that  this  was  a  secret, 
not  to  be  imparted  to  him,  and  that  he  must  judge  for  himself, 
in  each  case,  as  well  as  he  could,  who  were  or  were  not  in  a 
perfectly  hopeless  state,  it  is  plain  he  would  be  left  just  where 
he  was  before,  and  would  have  received  as  a  revelation  an  an- 
nouncement which  revealedf  to  all  practical  purposes,  nothing 
at  all. 

procedure.  A  general,  for  instance,  may  be  fully  assured  of  a  hostile  force  hav- 
ing landed  either  in  one  or  the  other  of  two  places,  though  uncertain  in  which  ; 
and  in  that  case  he  will  take  measures  for  guarding  against  an  attack  from  the 
one,  and  also  from  the  other,  of  those  two  places,  —  though  the  enemy,  he  knows, 
cannot  actually  be  in  both. 


116  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

Some  persons,  however,  not  deficient  in  good  sense  on  other 
points,  imagine  themselves  to  derive  from  this  doctrine  a  con- 
solatory satisfaction,  which  they  do  in  fact  feel,  and  perhaps 
not  without  reason,  but  the  real  grounds  of  which  they  mis- 
state. The  doctrine  that  some  persons  are  elected  absolutely 
to  final  salvation  they  confound  with  the  belief — a  highly 
consolatory  one,  no  doubt  —  that  they  themselves  are  of  the 
number.  But  as  long  as  any  decree  is  (as  our  XVIIth  Arti- 
cle expresses  it)  "nobis  arcanum,"  secret  to  us,  we  have  no 
more  satisfactory  certainty  than  if  no  such  decree  had  existed. 
Our  knowledge  or  belief  that  any  event  —  no  matter  whether 
past,  present,  or  future  —  is  fixed,  leaves  it  still  a  contingency 
to  us  till  we  know  in  what  way  it  is  fixed.  Suppose,  for 
instance,  a  man  knows  that  a  law-cause  on  which  his  whole 
property  depends  was  decided  yesterday  at  some  distant  place : 
if  he  expressed  his  satisfaction  in  this  knowledge,  you  might 
ask  him  why  he  should  be  rejoiced  to  know  that  he  is  either 
secured  from  loss,  or  else  ruined.  He  would  probably  reply 
by  dwelling  on  the  goodness  of  his  cause,  the  ability  of  his  ad- 
vocate, and  the  uprightness  and  wisdom  of  the  judge.  "  But 
then  you  mistake,"  it  might  be  answered,  the  ground  of  your 
satisfaction  :  for  all  these  circumstances  are  what  you  were 
equally  aware  of  the  day  before  the  trial  came  on  ;  and  it  is  on 
these,  and  on  the  consequent  belief  in  a  favorable  decision,  that 
your  satisfaction  is  really  founded  —  not  on  the  mere  knowl- 
edge that  some  decision  has  been  made,  which  is    secret  to  us." 

Taking  the  system  in  question,  then,  as  expounded  by  its 
soundest  advocates,  it  is  impossible  to  show  any  one  point  in 
which  a  person  is  called  upon  either  to  act  or  to  feel,  in  any 
respect  differently,  in  consequence  of  his  adopting  it.  And  this 
conclusion,  indeed,  may  be  considered  as  virtually  admitted  by 
the  maintainers  of  the  predestinarian  scheme ;  since,  whenever 
they  are  engaged  in  setting  forth  the  beneficial  results  of  their 


ON  ELECTION.  117 

doctrines,  they  invariably  dwell  on  such  as  are  not  peculiar  to 
them,  —  such  as  faith  in  the  atonement,  self-abasement,  and 
renunciation  of  all  reliance  on  our  own  merits,  gratitude  for 
Christ's  redeeming  mercy,  and  reliance  on  the  promised  guid- 
ance of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  other  such  doctrines,  which 
are  indeed  both  true  and  of  inestimable  practical  value,  but 
which  have  no  necessary  or  natural  connection  with  the  pecu- 
liar notions  of  Calvin  respecting  election ;  and  which,  in  fact, 
are  sincerely  and  heartily  embraced  by  numbers  who  reject 
those  notions. 

Were  I  as  much  inclined  to  enter  into  controversy  as  I  am 
averse  to  it,  on  this  point,  at  least,  I  should  have  no  temptation 
to  do  so ;  since  I  cannot  devise  or  even  conceive  any  more 
decisive  proofs  of  what  has  been  just  remarked,  than  the  very 
objections  adduced  by  those  who  wish  to  disprove  it.  Let  any 
one  try  the  experiment  of  proposing  to  predestinarians  the 
assertion  just  made  of  the  purely  speculative  character  of  the 
doctrines  in  question,  and  he  will  find  the  grounds  on  which  it 
is  denied  sufficient  to  satisfy  an  unbiassed  mind  of  its  truth. 
They  will  allege  the  cheering  stimulant  of  love  and  gratitude 
which  a  man  feels  who  is  convinced  that  his  sins  are  forgiven, 
and  that  a  "  crown  of  righteousness  "  is  laid  up  for  him  after 
he  shall  "  have  fought  the  good  fight,  and  finished  his  course ; " 
but  they  will  admit  that  this  confidence  is  false  and  dangerous, 
unless  he  shall  have  ascertained,  by  careful  and  candid  self-ex- 
amination, that  he  is  practically  imbued  with  Christian  hope, 
faith,  and  charity,  and  is  earnestly  striving  to  "  increase  more 
and  more, "  and  to  "  grow  in  grace,"  to  his  life's  end.  Now 
all  this  may  be  the  case  with  one  who  does  not  hold  the  abso- 
lute election  to  salvation  of  some,  and  the  reprobation  of  others ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  fullest  conviction  of  the  final  per- 
severance and  acceptance  of  God's  elect,  affords  no  satisfaction 
to  one  who  may  doubt  whether  he  Jiimself  is  one  of  the  elect. 


118  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

The  cheering  prospect  is  supplied,  not  by  the  general  doctrine 
of  divine  decrees,  but  by  each  man's  view  of  his  own  Christian 
state  of  holiness.  And  a  confidence  founded  on  good  grounds, 
I  for  one,  at  least,  should  never  think  of  repressing.^ 

They  will  enumerate,  again,  the  many  zealous  and  active 
Christians  who  have  been  strict  predestinarians  ;  —  they  will 
speak  of  the  Reformers,  forward  in  testifying  against  Romish 
errors,  who  have  held  the  same  tenet ;  and  of  the  attachment 
of  many  bigoted  Romanists  to  the  doctrine  of  free-will  (though, 
by  the  way,  Augustine,  the  strenuous  advocate  of  predesti- 
nation, is,  among  the  Fathers,  rather  the  favorite  saint  of  the 
Romish  Church),  as  well  as  the  immoral  lives  of  many  who 
reject  predestination,  etc.  But  if  any  one  keeps  close  to  the 
original  question,  and  persists  in  asking,  How  do  you  trace 
those  good  effects  to  a  belief  in  your  absolute  decrees  ?  —  How 
do  you  show  that  your  peculiar  doctrines  are,  not  merely  com- 
patible with  Christian  virtue  (for  that  is  admitted),  but  condu- 
cive to  it  ? — How  do  you  trace  these  other  ill  effects  to  a  rejec- 
tion of  those  peculiar  doctrines  ?  —  How  is  it  proved  that  the 
parties  respectively  act  as  they  do,  properly  in  consequence  of 
their  belief  or  disbelief  of  this  tenet  ?  —  if,  I  say,  these  ques- 
tions are  persisted  in,  and  all  irrelevant  matter  set  aside,  I  am 
much  mistaken  if  any  satisfactory  answer  will  be  obtained. 

The  fact  is  that  several  of  the  most  important  and  truly 
practical  doctrines  of  Christianity  have  been,  in  the  minds  of 
some  men,  so  intimately  blended,  from  their  childhood,  with 
other  tenets,  which  are  not  practical,  that  they  themselves,  un- 
less possessed  of  unusual  clearness  of  thought,  are  utterly  una- 
ble to  conceive  them  disunited ;  and  might  even  be  in  some 
danger  of  abandoning  what  is  essential,  were  they  induced  to 
give  up  some  other  point,  in  reality  totally  unconnected  with 
it.     Their  whole  system  of  faith  may  be  compared  to  some  of 

1  See  the  next  Essay. 


O^  ELECTION.  119 

the  ancient  compound  medicines,  of  great  efficacy  and  value, 
though  cumbered  with  several  drugs  that  are  utterly  inert. 
Many  practitioners,  unskilled  in  analysis,  cannot  conceive  but 
that  the  success  with  which  the  compound  is  often  administered 
is  a  proof  of  the  efficacy  of  each  ingredient,  and  of  the  absurdity 
of  thinking  to  separate  them. 

It  is  common,  in  cases  of  this  kind,  to  appeal  to  the  testimony 
of  experience  ;  though  but  a  small  proportion  of  even  the  most 
experienced  men  are  fit  judges  of  what  it  is  that  their  experi- 
ence does  testify.  He  who  has  long  been  accustomed  to  ad- 
minister a  certain  compound  medicine,  or  to  teach  a  certain 
system  of  doctrines,  and  who  has  found  his  patients  recover,  or 
his  hearers  improve,  will  often  believe,  not  only  that  every  part 
of  this  compound  is  essential,  but  that  this  is  established  by 
experience.^ 

I  am  far  from  thinking  harshly  of  predestinarians,  or  of  decid- 
ing that  their  peculiar  doctrines  are  altogether  untrue  ;  though 
to  me  they  do  not  appear,  at  least,  to  be  either  practical  or  re- 
vealed truths.  I  do  not  call  on  them  to  renounce  their  opinions 
as  heretical,  but  merely  to  abstain  from  imposing  on  others, 
as  a  necessary  part  of  the  Christian  faith,  a  doctrine  which 
cannot  be  clearly  deduced  from  Scripture ;  and  which  there  is 
this  additional  reason  for  supposing  not  to  be  revealed  in  Scrip- 
ture,—  that  it  cannot  be  shown  to  have  sluj  practical  tendency. 
For  since  it  is  plainly  the  object  of  the  Scriptures  to  declare  to 
us  such  truths  as  it  concerns  us  to  know,  with  a  view  to  the 
regulation  of  our  lives,  not  such  as  are  to  us  mere  matters  of 
speculative  curiosity ;  and  since  the  doctrines  in  question,  when 
so  explained  as  to  lead  to  no  evil  results,  lead  to  no  practical 
results  at  all,  the  natural  inference  must  be  (even  independent 
of  the  arguments  formerly  urged)  that  these  doctrines  are  not 
such  as  we  can  reasonably  expect,  at  least,  to  find  in  Scripture : 

1  See  Elements  of  Rhetoric,  Part  II.  chap.  ii.  §  5. 


120  WIIATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

and  if  not  so  revealed,  be  thej  true  or  false,  they  can  constitute 
no  part  of  the  Christian  faith}  It  is  not  contended  that  the 
doctrines  in  question  have  a  hurtful  influence  on  human  con- 
duct, and  consequently  are  untrue  ;  but  that  they  have,  accord- 
ing to  the  soundest  exposition  of  them,  no  influence  on  our  con- 
duct whatever;  and,  consequently  (revelation  being  not  de- 
signed to  impart  mere  speculative  knowledge),^  that  they  are 
not  to  be  taught  as  revealed  truths. 

§  VI.     Let  it  not  be  said,  however,  that,  being  at  least  harm- 
^,   ^         ^  .       less,  it  is  unimportant  whether  they  are  inculca- 

Tlie  danger  of  mis-  '  ^  •' 

leading  some  and     tcd  or  uot :  they  are  harmless  to  those  who  adopt 

disgusting      others  ■*• 

not  to  be  wantonly     them  iu  the  scusc  and  with 'the  qualifications 

iucuircd. 

just  mentioned ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  they 
are  harmless  to  others.  On  the  one  hand  that  the  doctrines  of 
"  predestination  and  our  election  in  Christ "  may  be  so  held  as 
to  prove  (according  to  the  language  of  our  XVIIth  Article)  a 
"  dangerous  downfall,"  will  hardly  be  denied  by  any  f  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  they  may  prove  a  stumbling-block  to  those  who 
do  not  hold  them,  by  raising  a  prejudice  against  other  doctrines 
—  some  of  the  most  important  of  Christianity  —  when  taught 
in  conjunction  with  these,  and  represented  as  connected  with 
them.  Now,  it  is  to  be  admitted,  indeed,  that  there  may  be 
dangers  of  this  nature  attendant  on  every  gospel  truth,  since 
there  is  none  that  may  not  be  perverted  by  some,  or  that  may 
not  give  offence  to  others ;  but  in  the  case  of  anything  which 
plainly  appears  to  he  gospel  truth,  this  danger  must  be  braved : 
we  must  preach  God's  word  as  we  have  received  it,  and  trust 
in  him  to  prosper  and  defend  it.  But  it  is  not  so  in  the  case 
of  doctrines  which  (whether  true  or  not)  are  not  plainly  de- 
clared in  Scripture.     The  dangers  to  which  any  such  doctrines 

1  See  Essay  IV.    (First  Series.)  2  Ibid. 

3  See  Note  B,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


ONELECTIOJT.  1^1 

may  lead,  are  needlessly  and  wantonly  incurred ;  and  those  who 
preach  them  are  angwerable  for  the  results.  If  the  speculations 
of  human  ingenuity  be  mingled  with  the  revealed  word  of  God, 
even  though  the  opinions  maintained  be  true,  some  may  be  mis- 
led, and  others  unnecessarily  disgusted.  Christianity  may  be 
loaded  (as  Dr.  Paley  expresses  himself  respecting  transubstan- 
tiation)  with  "a  weight  that  sinks  it;"  and  the  mischiefs  ensu- 
ing will  be  justly  imputable  to  the  rashness  6f  those  who  give 
occasion  to  them.  ,  ,  ! 

Let  Christians,  then,  be  taug;ht  to  rejoice,,  indeed,  in  their  high 
privileges,  as  the  "called"  and  "elect" .and  "peculiar  people 
of  God ; "  but  let  them  be  taught,  also,  while  they  offer  up  their 
thanks  for  his  unmerited  mercies,  to  consider  their  own  dili- 
gence and  care  as  indispensable,  hot  Only  to  their  attainment 
of  the  offered  blessings,  but  also  to  their  escape  from  an  aggra- 
vated condemnation,  —  for  "  provoking  and  grieving  Him  who 
had  done  so  great  things  for  them, "  "  as  in  the  provocation,  and 
as  in  the  day  of  temptation  in  the  wilderness."  Let  them  be 
told  to  trust,  indeed,  firmly  in  the  aid  and  guidance  of  God's 
Holy  Spirit,  which  will  conduct  those  who  earnestly  seek  it, 
and  walk  according  to  it,  through  the  perils  of  the  wilderness 
of  this  world  to  the  glories  of  their  promised  inheritance ;  but 
let  them  learn  from  the  rebellious  Israelites  that  he  will  not 
force  them  to  enter  into  that  good  land,  but  will  even, exclude 
from  it  those  who  refuse  to  hearken  to  him.  Wherefore,  "  let 
him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed  lest  he  fall."  God  is 
indeed  "  faithful  who  hath  promised ; "  but  he  requires  us  also  to 
be  faithful  to  ourselves  ;  and  he  has  taught  us,  both  by  precepts 
and  by  examples,  that  if  we  harden  our  hearts,  ai)4.  wijliftftt 
hear  his  voice,  we  shall  not  "enter  into  his  rest."        -  •  ii^.u/.^ 

:/;."))   '    JjJiaia.biu    O'lt  Oii-A    i>i;>IOOJ    LIU ^1 

«Mti  aavo  t-jjiv.' 


122  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 


NOTES  TO  ESSAY  HI. 


Note  A  — Page  91. 

I  HAVE  spoken  of  the  Augustlnlan  and  Calvinistic  theory  of  de- 
crees, as  including  absolute  Election  and  Reprobation,  because  Cal- 
vin himself,  and  the  rest  of  the  principal  writers  of  that  school, 
regard  them  (and  I  cannot  but  think  quite  reasonably)  as  altogether 
inseparable.  Indeed,  Calvin  expressly  opposes  as  futile  the  attempt 
made  by  some  to  draw  a  distinction.  "  Many,"  says  he,  "  as  if  wishing 
to  remove  odium  from  God,  while  they  admit  election,  yet  deny  rep- 
robation ;  but  in  this  they  speak  ignorantly  and  childishly ;  since 
election  itself  could  not  be  maintained  except  as  contrasted  with  rep- 
robation. God  is  said  to  set  apart  those  whom  he  adopts  as  children, 
for  salvation.  Those,  therefore,  whom  he  passes  by,  he  condemns ; 
and  that  for  no  cause  whatever,  except  that  he  chooses  to  exclude 
them  from  the  inheritance  which  he  predestinates  for  his  children.** 
And  again,  shortly  after,  he  says,  "  Whence  comes  it  that  so  many 
nations,  with  their  infant  children,  should  be  sentenced  irremediably 
to  eternal  death,  by  the  fall  of  Adam,  except  that  such  was  God's 
will  ?  " "  The  decree  is,  I  confess,  a  horrible  one,"  etc.^ 

There  are,  however  —  as  Calvin  intimates  there  were  in  his  time 
— persons  who  profess  to  hold  the  doctrine  of  absolute  election  in 
the  sense  I  have  been  speaking  of,  and  yet  to  reject  that  of  reproba- 

1  "  Multi  quidem,  ac  si  invidiam  a  Deo  repellere  vellent,  electionem  itafatentur 
ut  negent  quenquam  reprohari.  Sed  inscite  nimis  et  pueriliter,  quando  ipsa  elec- 
tio  nisi  reprobationi  opposita  non  staret.  Dicitur  segregare  Deus  quos  adoptat 
in  salutera,  .  .  ,  Quos  ergo  Deus  praeterit,  reprobat;  neque  alia,  de  caus&  nisi 
quod  ab  hereditate  quam  filiis  suis  praedestinat,  illos  vult  excludere  "  (Inst.  L. 

iii.  c.  xxiii.  §  1) "Unde  factum  est,  ut  tot  gentes,  una  cum  liberis  eorum 

infantibus,  Jeterna?  morti  involveret  lapsus  Adae  absque  remedio,  nisi  quia  Deo 
ita  visum  est  ?  Hie  obmutescere  oportet  tam  dicaces  alioqui  linguas.  Decretum 
quidem  horribile  fateor;  inficiari  tamennemo  poteritquin  praesciverit  Deus  quem 
exitum  esset  habiturus  homo,  antequam  ipsum  conderet,  et  ideo  praesciverit, 
quia  decreto  suo  sic  ordinarat "  (Calvin  Instit.  L.  iii.  c.  xxiii  §  7).  How  far 
from  having  attained  to  this  doctrine,  or  JOorming  any  notion  of  it,  must  have 
been  those  disciples  who  were  present  when  our  Lord  "  beheld  the  city  and 
WEPT  ovEB  it!  » 


ox  ELECTION.  123 

tion.  And  if  they  offer  any  explanation  of  the  mode  In  which  they 
teach  the  one  so  as  not  to  imply  the  other  (as  Baxter  appears  to 
have  done)  they  are  entitled  to  a  respectful  hearing ;  or,  even,  if 
they  offer  no  explanation,  still,  if  they  solemnly  profess  that  they 
hold  this,  and  not  that,  we  are  bound  not  to  impute  to  any  one  opin- 
ions which  he  distinctly  disavows. 

But  it  cannot  be  conceded  that  a  man  does  not  teach  —  whatever 
may  be  his  own  belief —  anything  which  is  plainly  implied  in  what  he 
says,  on  the  ground  of  his  merely  avoiding  an  express  statement  of 
it.  A  jury  which  finds  a  verdict  "/or  the  plaintiff"  does  find  a  ver- 
dict "  against  the  defendant"  though  they  may  not  use  those  words. 
A  philosopher  who  maintains  —  as  some  do  —  that  the  earth  is  the 
only  planet  that  is  inhabited^  is  certainly  maintaining  that  the  other 
planets  are  wninhabited,  whether  he  makes  particular  mention  of 
them  or  not.  Suppose  a  citizen  of  one  of  the  Slave  States  to  tell  us 
"  by  the  laws  of  our  State,  all  freemen,  and  freemen  alone,  are  ad- 
missible as  witnesses ;  but  as  for  the  exclusion  of  the  testimony  of 
slaves,  our  laws  make  no  mention  of  that :  "  we  should  consider  him 
(if  we  could  suppose  him  to  be  speaking  seriously)  as  resorting  to  a 
disingenuous,  though  a  very  absurd  subterfuge. 

So,  also,  to  teach  that  it  is  a  portion  of  the  gospel  revelation  that 
by  an  eternal  decree  certain  persons  are  absolutely  and  infallibly 
predestined  to  salvation,  and  that  they  only  will  obtain  it,  is  to  teach 
that,  by  that  very  decree,  all  others  are  excluded.  And  it  signifies 
nothing  whether  the  word  used  be  "  reprobation,"  or  "  preterition," 
or  "  non-election,"  or  any  other,  or  none  at  all.  The  mere  absti- 
nence from  the  employment  of  this  or  that  term  makes  no  difference 
as  to  the  doctrine  taught,  if  that  doctrine  be  so  plainly  implied  that 
it  is  hardly  possible  for  any  plain  common  sense  to  overlook  it. 

If  any  one  is  convinced  that  the  Scriptures  do  reveal  certain  doc- 
trines, of  which  one  portion  is  designed  for  none  but  the  most  learned 
theologians  and  farthest  advanced  Christians,  and  ought  to  be  kept 
back  from  the  multitude,^  he  should  not  so  speak  as  by  implication 

1  "  You  will  reap  much  improvement  from  the  view  of  predestination  in  its 
full  extent  if  your  eyes  are  able  steadfastly  to  look  at  all  which  God  has  made 
known  concerning  it.  But  if  your  spiritual  sight  is  weak,  forego  the  inquiry  as 
far  as  reprobation  is  concerned,  and  be  content  to  know  but  in  part  "  (Toplady 
on  Predestination .  Preface,  p.  viii).  It  is  not  easy  to  see  how  this  suggestion  is 
to  be  acted  on.  If  indeed  it  had  been  recommended  to  a  preacher  to  conceal 
from  those  of  "  weak  sight "  a  portion  of  the  gospel  revelation,  this  would  have 


124  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

to  convey  that  doctrine  to  all,  and  plead  tliat  he  does  not  teach  it 
because  he  does  not  expressly  name  it.  This  -would  be  to  attempt, 
feebly  and  ineffectually,  the  system  (recommended  by  some  of  the 
ancient  Fathers,  and  by  the  writers  of  the  Oxford  Tracts)  of  "  double 
doctrine  "  and  "  reserve." '  And  it  would  be  similar  to  the  supposed 
case,  just  above,  in  reference  to  slave  testimony. 

But  any  one,  again,  who  thinks  himself  bound  to  declare,  openly, 
to  all,  the  gospel  revelation,  and  yet  uses  language  which  will  be 
understood  by  at  least  ninety-nine  in  a  hundred  as  implying  what 
he  himself  holds  to  be  no  part  of  the  gospel  revelation,  is  manifestly 
bound  so  to  explain  himself  as  to  enable  them  to  escape  such  conclu- 
sions.^ 

I  wish  it,  then,  to  be  distinctly  understood,  first,  that  I  do  not  im- 
pute to  any  one  opinions  which  he  disclaims,  nor  am  discussing  any 
question  as  to  what  is  inwardly  Relieved  by  each,  but  only  as  to  what 
is,  whether  directly  or  obliquely,  taught;  and  secondly,  that  I  purposely 
abstain,  throughout,  from  entering  on  the  question  as  to  what  is  abso- 
lutely true  —  inquiring  only  what  is  or  is  not  to  be  received  and 
taught  as  a  portion  of  revealed  gospel  truth.  For,  no  metaphysical 
dogma,  however  sound  and  capable  of  philosophical  proof,  ought  to 
be  taught  as  a  portion  of  revealed  truth,  if  it  shall  appear  that  the 
passages  of  Scripture  that  are  supposed  to  declare  it  relate,  in  reality, 
to  a  different  matter. 

"  I  would  wish  it  to  be  remembered,"  says  Archbishop  Sumner, 
"  that  I  do  not  desire  to  argue  against  predestination  as  believed  in 
the  closet,  but  as  taught  from  the  pulpit." 


been,  at  least,  an  intelligible  and  consistent  application  of  the  system  of  "  Econ- 
omy "  and  "  Reserve."  But  one  does  not  see  how  a  man  can  practise  this  reserve 
on  himself.  It  is  in  vain  to  say, "  Be  content  to  know  but  in  part,  and  not  to 
know  this  particular  doctrine,  since  it  alarms  and  shocks  you  precisely  because 
you  do  know  it,  and  do  believe  it  to  be  a  part  of  what  God  has  made  knovrn." 

1  See  Dr.  West's  Discourse  on  Eeserve. 

2  "  Without  doubt,"  says  Whitefield  (vol.  iv.  p.  58),"  the  doctrines  of  election 
and  reprobation  must  stand  or  fall  together." 

"You  are  greatly  mistaken," says  Calvin  (Christophoro  Liberteto,  Col.  142), 
"  if  you  think  the  eternal  counsel  of  God  can  be  so  divided  as  that  it  has  so  cho- 
sen some  for  salvation  as  not  to  have  devoted  any  to  destruction.  For  if  he  has 
elected  some,  it  follows  necessarily  that  all  are  not  elected.  Now  what  more 
can  we  say  of  these  except  that  they  are  left  to  perish  ?  There  must  be,  there- 
fore, a  mutual  relation  between  the  elected  and  the  reprobated." 


ON  ELECTION.  125 


Note  B  — Page  120. 

It  is  worth  -wbile  here  to  remark,  that  there  is  a  principle  of  gi'eat 
importance  to  be  kept  in  mind  in  the  interpretation  of  any  document 
(such  as  the  Thirty-nine  Articles)  emanating  from  a  synod  or  assem- 
bly of  any  kind,  —  a  principle  which  is  hardly  ever  adverted  to  by 
commentators.     I  have  formerly  delineated  this  principle  as  follows : 

"  It  is  usual,  and  not  unreasonable,  to  pay  more  deference  —  other 
points  being  equal  —  to  the  decisions  of  a  council,  or  assembly  of  any 
kind  (embodied  in  a  manifesto,  act  of  parliament,  speech  from  the 
throne,  report,  set  of  articles,  etc.),  than  to  those  of  an  individual, 
equal,  or  even  superior,  to  any  member  of  such  assembly.  But  in 
one  point  —  and  it  is  a  very  important  one,  though  usually  over- 
looked—  this  rule  is  subject  to  something  of  an  exception,  which 
may  be  thus  stated :  In  any  composition  of  an  individual  who  is 
deemed  worthy  of  respect,  we  presume  that  whatever  he  says  must 
have  some  meaning,  —  must  tend  towards  some  object  which  could 
not  be  equally  accompllsed  by  erasing  the  whole  passage.  He  is 
expected  never  to  lay  down  a  rule,  and  then  add  exceptions,  nearly, 
or  altogether  coextensive  with  it ;  nor  in  any  way  to  have  so  mod- 
ified and  explained  away  some  assertion  that  each  portion  of  a  pas- 
sage shall  be  virtually  neutralized  by  the  other.  Now  if  we  interpret 
in  this  way  any/om^production  of  several  persons,  we  shall  often  be 
led  into  mistakes.  For,  those  who  have  had  experience  as  members 
of  any  deliberative  assembly,  know  by  that  experience  (what  indeed 
any  one  might  conjecture)  how  much  comjoromise  will  usually  take 
place  between  conflicting  opinions,  and  what  will  naturally  thence 
result.  One  person,  for  example,  will  urge  the  insertion  of  some- 
thing which  another  disapproves ;  and  the  result  will  usually  be, 
after  much  debate,  something  of  what  is  popularly  called  '  splitting 
the  difference  : '  the  insertion  will  be  made,  but  accompanied  with 
such  limitations  and  modifications  as  nearly  to  nullify  it.  A  fence 
will  be  erected  in  compliance  with  one  party,  and  a  gap  will  be  left 
in  it  to  gratify  another.  And,  again,  there  will  often  be,  in  some 
document  of  this  class,  a  total  silence  on  some  point  whereon,  perhaps, 
most  of  the  assembly  would  have  preferred  giving  a  decision,  but 
could  not  agree  what  decision  it  should  be.'* 

Our  XVIIth  Article  is  a  striking  exemphfication  of  what  has  been 
said ;  for  it  contains  modifications  and  limitations,  in  one  part,  of 
11* 


126  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

what  is  laid  down  in  another,  such  as  go  near  to  neutralize  the  one 
by  the  other. 

It  begins  by  stating  the  doctrine  of  predestination  in  a  form  which 
certainly  may  be,  and  we  know  often  has  been,  understood  in  the 
Calvinistic  sense ;  and  then  it  proceeds  to  point  out  the  danger  of 
dwelling  on  that  doctrine,  if  so  understood,  before  curious  and  carnal 
persons ;  of  whom  one  may  presume  there  will  usually  be  some  in 
any  congregation  or  mixed  company ;  so  that  such  a  doctrine  is  sel- 
dom if  ever  publicly  set  forth.  Next,  it  cautions  us  against  taking 
the  divine  promises  otherwise  than  as  they  are  "  generally  (general- 
iter)  set  forth  in  Scripture  ;  "  that  is,  as  made  to  classes  of  men,  — 
those  of  such  and  such  a  description^  —  and  not  to  individuals.  We 
are  not,  in  short,  to  pronounce  this  or  that  man  one  of  the  elect  (in 
the  Calvinistic  sense),  except  so  far  as  we  may  judge  from  the 
kind  of  character  he  manifests.  And,  lastly,  we  are  warned,  in  our 
own  conduct,  not  to  vindicate  any  act  as  conformable  to  God's  will 
on  the  ground  that  whatever  takes  place  must  have  been  decreed  by 
him ;  but  are  to  consider  conformity  to  his  will  as  consisting  in  obe- 
dience to  his  injunctions. 

If,  then,  —  some  may  say,  —  this  doctrine  is,  first,  not  to  be  pub- 
licly set  forth;  nor,  secondly,  applied  in  our  judgment  of  any  individ- 
ual; nor,  thirdly,  applied  in  our  own  conduct,  why  need  it  at  all  have 
been  mentioned? 

As  for  the  comfort  enjoyed  from  the  "  godly  consideration  *'  of  it, 
by  those  who  "  feel  within  themselves  the  workings  of  God's  Holy 
Spirit,"  etc.,  it  would  be  most  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  this  can- 
not be  equally  enjoyed  by  those  who  do  not  hold  predestinarian  views, 
but  who  not  the  less  fully  trust  in  and  love  their  Redeemer,  and 
"  keep  his  saying." 

But  the  Article  is  manifestly  the  result  of  a  compromise  between 
conflicting  views,  —  one  party  insisting  on  the  insertion  of  certain 
statements,  which  the  other  consented  to  admit  only  on  condition  of 
the  insertion  of  certain  limitations  and  cautions,  to  guard  against  the 
dangers  that  might  attend  the  reception  of  the  doctrine  in  a  sense 
of  which  the  former  passage  is  capable. 


ESSAY    lY. 


ON  PERSEVERANCE  AND  ASSURANCE. 

§  I.  There  are  many  passages  in  the  Apostle  Paul's  writings 
in  which  he  expresses  his  assured  expectation 

,  .    .  The  same  apostle 

of  the  final  success  of  his  converts  in  attaining     principally  appeai- 

^,  ,  .  j>       •       .  uTt    ■  ^         ed  to  in  support  of 

the  gospel  promises ;  tor  mstance,  "  Being  conji-  the  doctrines  of  the 
dent  of  this  very  thing,  that  He  who  hath  begun  J?'!  J^eillt.Tnd 
a  good  work  in  you  will  perform  it  until  the  day  ^^f'^^i^^jjij'^'""'"''^ 
of  Jesus  Christ ;"  that  is,  that,  at  his  last  coming 
to  judge  the  world,  they  will  be  numbered  among  the  inheritors 
of  immortal  happiness  with  him.  It  is  in  a  similar  tone  that 
he  addresses  the  Corinthians  in  his  first  epistle  to  them :  "  Wait- 
ing for  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  also 
confirm  you  unto  the  end,  that  ye  may  be  blameless  in  the  day 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Indeed,  there  is  hardly  any  one  of 
his  epistles^  in  which  he  does  not  express  the  same  exulting 
anticipation  of  eternal  life  awaiting  his  beloved  on  earth :  the 
gratitude  and  joy  which  he  consequently  feels  on  their  behalf 
are  scarcely  ever  left  unmentioned. 

Passages  of  this  description  are  appealed  to  as  establishing  the 
doctrine  of  "  final  perseverance  "  and  "  assurance ; "  that  is,  of 
the  impossibility  of  ultimate  failure,  to  those  who  are  once  truly 
elected  of  God ;  and  the  complete  conviction  which  such  per- 

1  I  mean,  of  those  addressed,  not  to  individuals,  but  to  the  members  generally 
of  some  church. 


128  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

sons  may  (or  must)  attain,  on  earth,  of  their  own  safety.  The 
dangerous  consequences,  again,  apprehended  by  many  from 
these  as  well  as  other  doctrines  maintained  on  this  apostle's 
authority,  have  accordingly  but  too  often  led  them  to  depreciate 
his  writings,  or  to  regard  them  with  suspicion  and  dread,  and 
to  keep  them  in  a  great  degree  out  of  sight. 

That  such  opinions  as  those  alluded  to  (as  far,  that  is,  as 
they  are  erroneous  and  mischievous)  have  been  grounded  on  a 
misunderstanding  of  these  writings,  and  may  be  the  most  effect- 
ually refuted  by  a  fair  and  correct  exposition  of  the  author's 
meaning,  I  have  endeavored  to  show  in  the  preceding  Essay, 
as  far  as  relates  to  the  doctrine  of  Christian  election.  Closely 
connected  with  this,  and  next  in  natural  order  to  it,  are  the 
doctrines  just  mentioned ;  on  which,  accordingly,  I  now  propose 
to  offer  some  remarks.  But  it  will  be  the  less  necessary  to 
dwell  on  them  on  account  of  that  closeness  of  connection  —  the 
one  question  being  a  kind  of  offshoot  from  the  other.  Abso- 
lute predestination  to  eternal  life  evidently  implies  the  physical 
impossibility  of  ultimate  failure,  —  in  short,  the  infallible  perse- 
verance of  the  elect ;  and  consequently  if  any  one  has  arrived 
at  the  knowledge  that  he  is  one  of  the  elect,  he  cannot  but  have 
the  most  complete  assurance  of  his  own  safety.  And  these 
notions  are,  not  without  some  probable  grounds  at  least,  re- 
garded by  many  as  pernicious  in  the  extreme, —  as  naturally 
leading  to  careless  and  arrogant  confidence,  spiritual  pride,  re- 
laxation of  virtuous  efforts,  and  indulgence  of  vicious  propensi- 
ties. They  have  accordingly  labored  to  repel  this  danger  by 
dwelling  much  and  sedulously  on  the  uncertainty,  even  to  the 
last,  of  the  state  of  even  the  best  Christian ;  and  of  the  possi- 
hility^  of  his  falling  even  from  the  most  confirmed  state  of  grace 
and  holiness. 

1  See  Appendix  to  Logic,  Article  "  Possible." 


ON  PERSEVERANCE  AND  ASSURANCE.  129 

§  II.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  we  may,  in  our 
extreme  caution  against  one  danger,  fall  into  the 
opposite.  Presumptuous  confidence,  and  careless     ^^f/romthest tT- 
security,  are  indeed  evils  to  be  carefully  aruarded     *""*'  apttoiead  to 

'I'  •'   *^  an  opposite  danger. 

against ;  but  they  are  not  the  only  evils  to  be  ap- 
prehended: despondency,  and,  what  is  more  likely  to  occur, 
deadness  of  the  affections  in  all  that  relates  to  religion,  and  a 
total  aversion  of  the  mind  towards  it,  may  be  generated,  in 
some  persons  at  least,  by  dwelling  too  much  and  too  earnestly 
on  the  chances  of  ultimate  failure. 

It  should  be  remembered,  too,  that  the  doctrines  of  perse- 
verance in  godliness  and  of  assurance  of  salvation,  in  some 
sense  or  other,  have  received  the  full  sanction  of  the  Apostle 
Paul ;  nor  would  he  so  often  and  so  strongly  have  expressed 
his  grateful  exultation  in  the  spiritual  state  of  his  converts,  and 
his  full  confidence  that  the  "  good  work  begun  in  them  "  would 
ultimately  be  completed,  had  he  not  considered  the  exhibition 
of  these  cheering  and  encouraging  prospects  as  highly  edify- 
ing and  conducive  to  their  Christian  progress.  And  I  cannot 
but  think  that  his  example  in  this  point  has  been  too  little  at- 
tended to  by  some  writers,  who  overlook  the  dangers  on  one 
side,  while  they  overrate  those  on  the  other;  which  at  the 
same  time  they  do  not  take  the  most  effectual  way  to  obviate. 
It  is  not  enough  that  they  express  the  fullest  confidence  in 
God's  fulfilment  of  his  promises  to  all  who  are  not  wanting  on 
their  pai-t.  To  one  whose  mind  is  disposed  to  serious  thought- 
fulness,  all  doubts  respecting  his  final  salvation  (however  well 
convinced  he  may  be  that  if  he  fail  of  it  the  fault  will  be  his 
own)  —  doubts  which  must  imply  the  apprehension  of  the 
unspeakably  horrible  alternative  —  cannot  but  suggest  (in  pro- 
portion as  they  prevail)  the  wish  that  Christianity  were  un- 
true, —  that  this  life  were  the  whole  of  his  existence,  rather  than 


130  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

that  the  remotest  risk  of  such  an  alternative  should  be  incurred.' 
And  a  wish  of  this  kind  is  utterly  at  variance  with  such  a  state 
of  mind  as,  according  to  Paul,  the  Christian's  ought  to  be. 
For  it  must  not  be  imagined  that  a  wish  relative  to  something 
which  (as  in  the  present  case)  does  not  at  all  depend  on  our 
choice,  must,  therefore,  be  wholly  inoperative  and  unimportant. 
No  man's  wishes  can  indeed  make  a  religion  false ;  they  may 
even  not  cause  him  to  disbelieve  it ;  but  they  may  yet  very 
easily  lead  him,  without  any  deliberate  design,  habitually  to  with- 
draw his  thoughts  from  a  painfully  alarming  subject.  There 
is  a  propensity  in  the  human  mind  (which,  however  unreason- 
able and  absurd,  is  instinctive,  and  almost  unavoidable)  to  turn 
away,  insensibly,  more  and  more,  from  the  contemplation  of  that 
which  is  unpleasant.  Nor  will  such  feelings  of  dread,  distaste, 
and  aversion  as  have  been  alluded  to,  be  necessarily  confined 
(as  at  first  sight  one  might  suppose)  to  men  who  are  knowingly 
leading  such  a  life  as  can  afford  them  Httle  or  no  just  ground 
of  hope  in  the  gospel  promises.  For  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  apprehension  of  suffering  is  so  incomparably  more 
keen  than  the  anticipation  of  gratification,  —  so  faint  and  feeble 
are  our  conceptions  of  happiness  compared  with  those  of 
misery,  —  that  the  least  admixture  of  a  dread  of  any  very  ter- 
rible evil,  will,  when  really  impressed  on  the  mind,  more  than 
counterbalance  a  far  greater  amount  of  favorable  hopes ;  and, 
consequently,  to  a  thoughtful  mind,  the  idea  of  certain  annihi- 

1  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  when  I  speak  of  the  horror  of  being  in  any  doubt, 
or  of  apprehending  ajay  risk,  contemplating  any  chance,  of  this  or  that  evil,  etc., 
I  mean  absolute,  not  hypothetical  or  conditional  risk,  possibility,  probability, 
etc. ;  for  this  latter  does  not  occasion  any  uneasiness.  A  man  is  shocked,  for  in- 
stance, at  the  idea  of  the  remotest  risk  of  being  overwhelmed  in  the  sea,  or  of 
perishing  with  hunger;  but  he  knows  that  when  walking  on  the  seashore  he 
would  be  probably  overwhelmed  if  he  should  stay  there  till  the  tide  came  up ; 
and  that  he  would  be  starved  if  he  should  refuse  to  take  the  food  that  is  before 
him:  but  this  (as  it  may  be  called)  hypothetical  danger  gives  him  no  uneasiness 
at  all. 


ON  PERSEVERANCE  AND  ASSURANCE.  131 

lation  would  appear  far  preferable  to  the  remotest  chance  of 
endless  miserj. 

Now  it  is  with  those  of  a  thoughtful  turn  that  we  are  con- 
cerned in  the  present  question.  As  for  the  great  mass  of  the 
careless  and  worldly,  they  are,  indeed,  for  the  most  part,  far  too 
confident  of  salvation ;  but  their  confidence  commonly  results 
from  a  vague,  general,  un weighed  notion  of  God's  mercy  — not 
from  any  predestinarian  persuasion  of  their  being  selected  from 
the  rest  of  mankind,  and  ordained  to  persevere  in  holiness, 
under  the  constant  guidance  of  the  divine  Spirit.  TJiey  need, 
indeed,  to  be,  if  possible,  alarmed  and  filled  with  apprehension ; 
but  it  is  a  far  different  kind  of  alarm  they  need  from  that  of 
which  we  have  been  speaking.  They  need  to  be  warned  of 
the  dangers  attendant  on  a  careless,  not  on  an  active  and  zeal- 
ous Christian  life,  —  of  the  danger,  not  of  falling /rom  a  state  of 
grace,  but  of  never  striving  to  be  in  such  a  state,  —  of  the  danger 
of  losing  heaven ;  not  by  turning  from  the  service  of  God,  but 
by  not  turning  from  the  service  of  sin.  Their  false  security 
arises,  not  from  their  dwelling  with  too  confident  expectation 
on  the  glories  of  a  better  world,  but  from  their  thinking  too  lit- 
tle, or  not  at  all,  of  any  world  but  this.  Let  such  be  alarmed, 
by  all  means  possible,  into  a  just  sense  of  the  ruin  to  which 
they  are  hastening  by  taking  no  pains  to  lead  a  Christian  life ; 
and  to  urge  such  a  ground  of  alarm  will  have  no  tendency  to 
dishearten  those  who  are  conscious  of  an  earnest  desire  and 
endeavor  to  live  to  God.  And  the  more  confidence  is  expressed 
of  the  final  success  of  those  who  will  come  to  Christ,  and  set 
themselves  to  work  out  their  own  salvation,  the  more  will  the 
sinner  be  encouraged  to  begin  in  earnest,  and  pursue  with 
vigor,  the  great  work  of  reformation. 

§  III.  But  is  there,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  no  "  fear  and 
trembling"  to  be  felt  by  all  men  in  working  out  their  salvation? 


132  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

Can  a  man  be  exempt  from  all  danger  of  excessive  and  pre- 
sumptuous  confidence?     Undoubtedly   such  a 

Mode   in   which 

both  dangers  are  to    danger  is  alwajs,  and  by  every  one,  to  be  sed- 

be  avoided.  .  i  •  .n     i        i 

ulously  guarded  agamst;  but  it  will  be  best 
guarded  against,  not  by  seeking  to  lower  the  Christian's  hopes, 
but  by  connecting  his  confidence  with  his  own  unremitting 
efforts^  —  by  striving  to  establish  in  his  thoughts  an  inseparable 
combination  between  the  idea  of  the  happiness  he  looks  for- 
ward to,  and  that  of  the  requisite  exertions  on  his  part.  The 
fullest  confidence  of  attaining  any  object,  if  the  attainment  of  it 
be  still  regarded  as  dependent  on  our  own  endeavors,  and  if 
that  confidence  be  grounded  on  a  firm  resolution  to  use  those 
endeavors,  can  never  lead  to  negligence  and  inactivity.^ 

The  Christian  who  is  earnestly  striving  to  be  led  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  and  to  "  grow  in  grace  "  daily,  must  not  be  told, 
indeed,  that  he  cannot  turn  aside  from  the  right  path  if  he 
would,  —  that  it  is  out  of  his  power  to  fall  into  a  life  of  sin ;  but 
that  "  fear  and  trembling  "  which  I  conceive  Paul  to  have  in- 
tended, —  the  conviction,  namely,  that  our  care  and  diligence 
are  never  to  be  laid  aside  even  to  the  end,  —  will  not  lessen 
such  confidence  as  proceeds  on  the  full  determination  to  retain 
that  diligent  care  ;  nor  will  it  dash  with  any  mixture  of  gloomy 
apprehensions  the  joyful  anticipations  with  wliich  such  a  Chris- 
tian looks  forward  to  a  future  life. 

And  since  this  inspiriting  confidence  is  evidently  calculated 
to  produce  a  good  practical  effect,  hence  it  is,  perhaps,  that  some 
who  hold  those  notions  relative  to  predestination  and  election 
which  were  adverted  to  in  the  last  Essay,  are  led  to  suppose, 
(contrary  to  what  I  have  there  maintained,  §  V.)  that  these 
peculiar  doctrines  are  practical.  For,  men  who  are  not  much 
accustomed  to  attentive  and  accurate  reflection,  are  easily  led 
to  confound  together  two  things  perfectly  distinct ;  namely,  first, 

1  See  Note  A,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


ON  PERSEVERAKCE  AND  ASSURANCE.  133 

a  man's  practical  confidence,  personally,  as  to  his  own  final  sal- 
vation ;  and,  secondly,  the  belief  that  a  decree  has  gone  forth 
respecting  every  man,  placing  each  in  the  list  either  of  the  elect 
who  cannot  fail  of  salvation,  or  of  the  reprobate  who  cannot 
attain  to  it.  Now  these  two  persuasions  are  in  nowise  necessa- 
rily connected.  A  man  may  hold  either  of  them  without  the 
other.  On  the  one  hand,  any  one*s  joyful  anticipations  in  re- 
spect of  his  own  case  (which  have  a  practical  tendency)  are  not, 
as  I  have  above  shown,  anything  peculiar  to  the  views  of  the 
Calvinistic  school  respecting  election ;  on  the  other  hand,  these 
views  have,  as  has  also  been  shown,  whether  true  or  false, 
no  practical  tendency,  and  do  not  even  necessarily  imply  any- 
thing cheering  and  consolatory.  For,  a  man's  conviction  that 
every  one's  destiny  is  fixed  for  good  or  evil  can  afford  him  no 
comfort,  unless  he  is  assured  that  his  own  is  the  favorable  des- 
tiny. Many  indeed  do  combine  these  two  persuasions  ;  but  still 
they  are  two,  and  distinct,  and  may  be  disunited.  Nor  is  the 
number  small  of  those  who  are  naturally  of  a  temper  over- 
timid,  anxious,  and  unreasonably  desponding,  —  such  as  need 
encouragement ;  but  are  too  often  denied,  both  by  Calvinists 
and  Arminians,  such  encouragement  as  their  case  calls  for. 

§  IV.     "We  may  learn,  not  only  from  the  apostle's  precepts 
relative  to  Christian  trust  and  "  joy  in  the  Holy       „   ^ 

*'    •'  •'  Confirmation  of 

Ghost,"  but  also  from  his  example,  as  recorded     *^e  view  here  ta- 
ken, from  the  ex- 

in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  in  concerns  of  a     ample   of  Paui-a 

conduct,  and  from 

ditterent  nature,  that  he  at  least  did  not  consider  that  of  men  in  gen- 
the  active  and  circumspect  employment  of  means 
inconsistent  with  the  most  undoubting  certainty  as  to  the  event 
—  even  a  certainty  founded  on  immediate  precise  revelation 
from  heaven.  Let  any  one  read  the  account  of  what  befell 
him  while  imprisoned  at  Jerusalem,  and  he  will  find  him  as- 
sured, by  a  supernatural  vision,  of  his  deliverance  from  the 
12 


loi  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

then  present  danger :  "  Be  of  good  cheer,  Paul ;  for  thou  must 
bear  witness  of  me  also  at  Rome."  Yet  when  the  designs 
of  the  conspirators  to  murder  him  came  to  his  knowledge,  he 
took  every  precaution  (bj  sending  to  warn  the  chief  captain) 
that  prudent  apprehension  could  suggest.^  Again  he  was  fa- 
vored, on  the  occasion  of  the  shipwreck,  with  a  like  supernatu- 
ral assurance  that  he,  being  destined  by  his  Master  to  arrive  at 
Rome,  should  be  saved  from  the  peril  of  the  sea ;  and,  more- 
over, that  his  companions  should  be  spared  also  for  his  sake,^ 
and  should  come  safe  to  land ;  yet  immediately  after,  we  find 
him  using  and  suggesting  every  precautionary  means  that  could 
have  occurred  to  the  most  doubting  and  fearful.  It  was  through 
Paul's  presence  of  mind  that  the  mariners  were  withheld  from 
deserting  the  ship,  and  depriving  the  passengers  of  their  need- 
ful aid  :  "  Then  said  Paul,  Except  these  abide  in  the  ship,  ye 
cannot  he  saved.''  ^  Was  it,  then,  that  he  doubted,  in  this  or 
in  the  former  case,  the  supernatural  assurance  he  had  received  ? 
Surely  not ;  but  he  regarded  that  very  assurance  as  grounded 
on  the  supposition  that  he  himself  should  employ  all  those 
regular  means  which  he  on  his  part  was  ready  and  fully  re- 
solved to  employ.  His  exertions  (which  he  was  conscious  of 
being  determined  to  use)  formed  the  hypothesis  (if  I  may 
so  speak)  on  which  the  divine  promise  proceeded;  and  he  evi- 
dently judged  it  possible  that  he  might,  in  one  sense  of  the 
phrase,  lose  his  life  at  Jerusalem,  or  in  the  shipwreck ;  that  is, 
it  was  in  his  power  to  cast  away  his  life  if  he  chose  not  to  use 
the  requisite  exertions  ;  but  such  a  possibility  as  this  could  not 
lead  to  any  doubt  or  distressing  apprehension.  So,  also,  when 
(1  Cor.  ch.  9)  he  describes  himself  as  "  bringing  his  body  into 
subjection,  lest  he  should  be  a  castaway,"  he  is  not  expressing 
any  painful  anticipation  of  being  a  castaway,  because  he  does 
not  at  all  anticipate  that  relaxation  of  his  exertion  and  vigi- 
lance which  would  lead  to  such  a  result. 

1  Acts  xxiii.  17.  2  Acts  xxvii.  22.  3  Acts  xxvii.  31. 


ON  PERSEVERANCE  AND  ASSURANCE.  135 

Nor  is  this  a  distinction  too  refined  for  any  but  the  highest 
and  most  perfect  order  of  minds  ;  on  the  contrary,  experience 
shows  that  it  is  within  the  reach  of  the  most  ordinary  capacity. 
Nothing,  indeed,  is  more  common  than  the  expression  of  a  full 
conviction  as  to  what  some  person's  conduct  will  be  on  some 
particular  occasion,  —  that  conviction  being  grounded  on  the 
supposition  that  his  disposition  as  to  the  point  in  question  is 
fully  ascertained,  and  that  it  is  a  matter  depending  on  his  own 
free  choice.  " Such  a  one  is  sure"  it  is  said,  " to  act  in  this 
manner ; "  "he  is  incapable  of  doing  so  and  so."  And  when  we 
thus  prophesy  another's  conduct,  we  are  evidently  exempt  from 
all  danger  of  mistahe,  supposing  we  are  originally  correct  in 
our  judgment  as  to  the  other's  inclination,  and  as  to  his  being 
free  to  follow  that  inclination  ;  and  yet,  though  it  is  in  a  certain 
sense  "  impossible  "  that  he  should  act  otherwise,  so  far  is  this 
anticipation  of  his  conduct  from  implying  that  he  is  powerless, 
or  under  restraint,  that  it  proceeds  on  the  very  supposition 
of  his  being  left  perfectly  free. 

And,  again,  with  respect  to  one's  own  conduct ;  that  confi- 
dence of  success  necessarily  diminishes  exertion,  is  notoriously 
the  reverse  of  truth.  Every  general  seeks  to  inspire  his  sol- 
diers with  the  firmest  confidence  of  victory,  —  which  expe- 
rience proves  to  be  the  best  incentive  to  those  exertions  that 
are  requisite  to  insure  it.  Many  a  man,  from  having  been  per- 
suaded by  omens  or  by  the  predictions  of  astrologers  that  he 
\s>  fated  to  attain  some  great  object,  has,  in  consequence,  instead 
of  being  lulled  into  carelessness  by  this  belief,  been  excited  to 
the  most  laborious  and  unwearied  efforts  —  such  as  perhaps  he 
would  not  otherwise  have  thought  of  making  —  for  the  attain- 
ment of  his  object. 

The  Macbeth  of  Shakspeare  may  be  appealed  to  as  an  ex- 
ample even  more  convincing  than  that  of  any  single  individual 
of  real  history,  —  if,  at  least,  it  be  admitted  that  Shakspeare  in 


136  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

his  delineations  of  character  is  true  to  nature.  For,  if  so,  they 
must  be  conformable  to  general  nature ;  and  each  character  must 
be  a  representative,  if  not  of  man  universally,  at  least  of  some 
class  of  men.  A  real  individual,  on  the  contrary,  may  chance 
to  be  an  exception  to  all  general  rules ;  but  such  a  person  could 
not  be  introduced  into  a  drama  without  bringing  censure  on  the 
poet  as  guilty  of  a  departure  from  nature.^  Now  Macbeth  is 
evidently  both  prompted  in  the  first  instance  to  aim  at  the 
crown,  and  fortified  to  go  through  with  his  attempt,  by  the  pre- 
diction of  the  witches.  We  might  abstractedly  have  supposed 
that  he  would  even  have  been  withheld  —  had  he  previously 
had  the  design  —  from  the  perpetration  of  a  crime  he  abhorred, 
by  the  consideration  that  it  must  be  needless,  since  it  was  in- 
fallibly decreed  that  he  should  be  king.  Once,  and  only  once, 
the  thought  occurs  to  him, — "  If  Chance  will  have  me  king,  why 
Chance  may  crown  me,  without  my  stir ; "  but,  far  from  acting 
on  this  view,  rational  as  it  appears,  his  conduct  is  throughout 
in  direct  opposition  to  it. 

It  has  been  said  —  though  not,  I  think,  correctly  —  that,  in 
cases  of  this  kind,  the  reason  why  belief  in  fate  does  not  lead 
to  inactivity  is  because  it  is  inoperative.  It  does  not  indeed 
operate  in  the  same  way  in  which  it  would  in  some  persons. 
There  are  many  who  would  be  deterred  from  incurring  guilt 
or  danger  or  toil  for  the  sake  of  a  kingdom,  by  their  being  fully 
convinced  of  being  fated  to  attain  to  it.  But  others  are  led  by 
this  very  belief  to  use  efforts  which  they  otherwise  would  not 
have  used.  Now,  surely  it  is  not  correct  to  call  that  belief  in- 
operative which  does  palpably  lead  to  results,  merely  because 
it  seems  to  us  strange  that  such  should  be  the  result. 

The  common  sense,  even  of  the  simple  and  unlearned  Chris- 
tian, will  be  sufficient  to  show  him,  and  show  him  practically, 
the  distinction  between  that  vain  confidence  which  leads  to 

1  See  remarks  on  the  "  Plausible,"  Elements  of  Khetoric,  Part  1. 


ON  PERSEVERANCE  AITD  ASSURANCE.  137 

in  activity,  and  a  rational  confidence  connected  with  exertion ; 
provided  a  due  attention  is  hut  paid  to  those  ambiguities  of 
language  which  have  been  ah*eady  noticed.  In  fact,  he  may 
be  easily  taught  that  the  distinction  is  one  which  he  acts  upon 
continually  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  When  returning,  for 
instance,  from  his  daily  labor  to  his  home,  he  feels  a  perfect 
certainty  (supposing  his  life  and  limbs  to  be  spared)  that  be 
shall  reach  his  home :  it  is  an  event  of  which,  practically,  he 
feels  no  more  doubt  than  of  the  setting  of  the  sun ;  but  he  does 
not  therefore  stand  stilly  and  neglect  to  use  the  means,  because 
he  is  confident  of  the  event :  on  the  contrary,  the  very  ground 
of  his  confidence  is  the  full  determination  he  feels  to  press 
forward  towards  his  object. 

In  like  manner  (it  may  be  explained  to  him)  it  was  in  one 
sense  possible,  though  in  another  sense  impossible,  that  Paul 
should,  even  at  his  last  trial,  have  deserted  and  renounced  his 
Saviour ;  that  is,  it  was  completely  in  his  power.  It  depended 
on  himself  whether  he  would  forsake  his  Lord,  and  forfeit  his 
rich  inheritance,  or  "lay  hold  on  eternal  life"  which  was  just 
before  him :  so  that  in  one  sense  it  was  true  that  he  might  fall 
and  perish  eternally ;  but  he  was  conscious  that  though  he  had 
the  power,  he  had  not  the  will  thus  to  apostatize  ;  and  there- 
fore fully  trusting  in  his  Saviour's  promises,  and  in  a  resolution 
supported  by  divine  aid,  he  pours  forth  (in  his  Second  Epistle 
to  Timothy)  his  exulting  confidence  of  persevering  even  to  the 
end :  "  The  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought 
a  good  fight ;  I  have  finished  my  course.  Henceforth  there  is 
laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the 
righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day  ! " 

It  cannot  be  denied,  however,  that  there  is  practical  danger 

in  the  tone  in  which  some  preachers  dwell  on  such  topics  as  the 

"  final  perseverance  of  God's  people,"  the  "  triumph  of  faith,"  — 

which,  they  say,  is  sure,  if  it  be  a  true,  saving  faith,  to  prevail 

12* 


188  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

in  the  end,  though  God  suffers  his  saints  to  fall  into  grievous 
sins  purposely,  "  in  order  to  humble  them."  ^  All  this  may  be, 
and  certainly  has  been  in  some  cases  (whether  the  recorded 
one  of  Oliver  Cromwell  be  authentic  or  not),^  interpreted  to 
mean  that  if  a  man  has  been  at  any  time  satisfied,  from  his  own 
feelings,  of  being  in  a  state  of  grace,  he  will  be  infallibly  saved, 
and  is  not  to  regard  any  sin  or  course  of  sin  he  may  subse- 
quently fall  into  as  endangering  his  final  acceptance. 

That  this  is  not  the  meaning  of  many  who  preach  in  the  man- 
ner I  have  described,  I  am  well  aware.  But  then,  they  are  bound 
distinctly  to  warn  "  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  to  take  heed 
lest  he  fall."  They  should  explain  that  a  saving  faith  can  only 
be  known  to  he  such,  either  by  the  possessor  of  it,  or  by  others, 
from  its  bringing  forth  fruits ;  and  that,  by  asserting  the  per- 
severance, or  repentance  and  return  to  God  (in  case  of  falling 
into  sin)  of  all  God's  people,  they  mean  that  those  who  fall 
away  and  do  not  return,  were  deceived  in  supposing  themselves 
to  have  ever  been,  in  this  sense,  God's  people ;  and  that  no 
man's  state  can  be  properly  judged  of  but  by  his  leading  a 
Christian  or  an  unchristian  life,  or  can  be  perfectly  known 
except  at  the  last  day. 

All  this,  it  may  be  said,  would  be  but  a  circuitous  way  of 
stating,  in  the  form  of  its  converse,  the  proposition  that  "  He 
that  endureth  unto  the  end,  the  same  shall  be  saved."  But  this, 
it  is  evident,  must  be  the  real  meaning  of  those  who  use  the 
above-mentioned  expressions,  without  intending  to  teach  Anti- 
nomian  doctrines. 

But,  as  was  observed  in  the  preceding  Essay  (§  V.),  it  is  not 
from  dwelling  on  general  decrees,  but  from  the  application  to 
each   individual,  or  each  description  of  individuals,  of  such 

1 1  have  heard  this  doctrine  set  forth  in  those  very  words,  in  a  eermon. 

2  O.  Cromwell  is  said  to  have  anxiously  asked,  when  on  his  deathbed,  whether 
it  were  possible  for  the  elect  to  fall  finally ;  and  being  answered  in  the  negative, 
replied,  "  Then  I  am  safe  j  for  I  am  certain  that  I  was  once  in  a  state  of  grace." 


ON  PERSEVERANCE  AND  ASSURANCE.  139 

admonitions  or  encouragements  as  suit  the  actual  apparent 
condition  of  each,  —  it  is  from  this  alone  that  practical  good 
results  are  to  be  hoped. 

Let  the  careless  Christian,  then,  be  roused  and  alarmed,  — 
let  the  presumptuous  be  warned  and  repressed ;  but  let  no  dis- 
tressing and  disheartening  doubts  be  implanted  in  the  breast  of 
the  zealous,  though  humble  and  timid  follower  of  Christ :  only, 
let  his  confidence  be  always  made  to  rest  on  the  supposition  of 
his  own  unremitting  care  and  earnest  endeavor  j  while,  at  the  same 
time,  it  is  made  to  rest,  also,  not  on  his  own  unaided  strength, 
but  on  the  promised  support  of  Him  who  "  worketh  in  us  both 
to  will  and  to  do."  Let  him  be  encouraged  to  rejoice  at  the 
bright  prospect  set  before  him  ;  but  to  rejoice  in  the  spiritual 
strength  insured  to  him  by  the  Lord,  who  "  never  faileth  them 
that  seek  him."  "Rejoice"  (says  the  apostle  to  such  a  Chris- 
tian) "  Kejoice  in  the  Lord  alway ;  and  again  I  say.  Rejoice 
....  being  confident  of  this  veiy  thing,  that  He  which  hath 
begun  a  good  work  in  you  will  perform  it  until  the  day  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


140  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 


NOTE    TO    ESSAY  IV. 


Note  A— Page  132. 

There  Is  a  term  applied  In  Scripture  to  persons  who  embraced  the 
Christian  faith  for  which  our  language  affords  no  adequate  transla- 
tion. We  have  not  In  English,  as  there  is  in  Greek,  Si  present  parti- 
ciple passive;  and  this  deficiency  often  drives  us  into  awkward  and 
sometimes  obscure  circumlocution ;  thus,  If  rvTrroyiivos  is  rendered 
"  one  who  is  beaten,"  this  might  be  understood  to  relate  to  what  is 
past,  and  complete  (which  would  be  rervfifieyos)  ;  but  it  signifies  prop- 
erly, though  in  uncouth  English,  "  one  who  is  being  beaten."  The 
particular  term  I  am  now  alluding  to  is  <ra)Cofievoi :  "  The  Lord  added 
to  the  church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved ;  "  robs  acc^o/j.4vovs :  (Acts 
ii.  47)  the  word  rendered  "such  as  should  be  saved"  (a  rendering 
which  has  perhaps  led  some  readers  who  cannot,  or  do  not,  study  the 
original,  to  suppose  that  absolute  predestination  is  implied  In  this 
passage)  signifies  merely  "  persons  coming  into  the  way  of  salvation ;" 
namely,  by  embracing  Christianity. 

It  Is  to  be  observed,  however,  by  the  way,  that  there  are  many 
expressions  in  Scripture  which  do  not  even  imply  any  full  convic- 
tion in  the  writer's  mind  that  a  particular  event  will  take  place,  or 
has  taken  place  ;  though,  taken  strictly,  they  might  seem  to  imply  this, 
and  have,  probably,  been  often  so  understood.  Instances  may  be 
found,  probably,  in  all  languages,  —  but  I  think  they  are  particularly 
common  in  Greek,  —  of  the  same  terms  being  used  in  speaking  of 
an  object  proposed,  and  of  an  object  attained :  a  full  design  and  at- 
tempt to  do  anything,  is  often  expressed  in  the  same  manner  as  If  it 
had  been  actually  done.  Thus,  in  the  Ajax  of  Sophocles  (to  take 
an  Instance  from  a  profane  writer)  Agamemnon  charges  Ajax  with 
having  murdered  him ;  that  is,  having  done  all  that  in  him  lay  to 
accomplish  that  purpose,  though  his  design  was  frustrated  by  extra- 
neous Impediments.  Thus,  Paul  says  of  himself  (as  our  translation 
expresses  it  in  Acts  xxvi.  11)  that  he  "  compelled  "  Qhat  is,  was  com- 
pelling,  urged)  the  Christians  to  blaspheme,  —  not  meaning  to  imply 
that  they  did  so.  And,  indeed,  nothing  is  more  common  in  most  of 
the  ancient  writers  than  to  speak  of  a  person's  having  done  this  or 


ON  PERSEVERANCE  AND  ASSURANCE.  141 

that,  that  Is,  having  heen  doing  it, —  having  formed  the  design,  and 
actually  set  about  it,  though  the  attempt  was  stopped.  In  this  sense 
the  Lord  is  repeatedly  said  to  have  delivered  the  Israelites  out  of 
Egypt,  to  bring  them  into  the  land  of  Canaan,  which  he  had  prom- 
ised to  their  forefathers ;  and  yet  the  whole  generation  perished  in 
the  wilderness,  through  their  own  refusal,  when  summoned,  to  take 
possession  of  the  promised  land ;  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
promised  land  was  never  occupied  even  by  their  posterity,  through 
their  own  neglect  to  drive  out  the  nations  whose  territory  had  been 
allotted  to  them.  In  this  case  the  positive  and  unqualified  declara- 
tions of  Scripture  not  only  do  not  imply  any  compulsion  exercised 
on  the  Israelites,  but  do  not  even  Imply  a  foreknowledge  that  the 
events  would  take  place ;  but  merely  that  the  Lord  had  performed 
his  part,  and  had  left  It  completely  in  their  power  to  bring  about  the 
events  in  question. 

So,  also,  many  of  the  expressions  of  the  sacred  writers,  in  which 
they  speak  of  the  holiness  of  life  here  and  eternal  life  hereafter,  pro- 
vided by  the  grace  of  God  for  those  whom  they  are  addressing,  not 
only  do  not  relate  to  any  absolute  predestination  to  reward  or  irre- 
sistible control  of  the  will,  but  do  not  necessarily  imply,  according  to 
a  fair  construction  of  the  language,  even  so  much  as  a  perfect  confi- 
dence in  the  writers  that  these  objects  will,  in  fact,  be  attained;  but 
merely  that  such  Is  the  design  and  tendency  of  the  gospel  dispensa- 
tion, —  that  God  had  placed  these  things  within  their  reach.^ 

I  am  not  contending,  be  It  observed,  that  this  absolute  predestina- 
tion and  Irresistible  grace  may  not,  in  fact^  be  a  part  of  the  gospel 
scheme  In  the  divine  mind ;  but  only  that  no  Inference  to  that  efiect 
can  be  fairly  drawn  from  the  words  of  the  apostles.  They  may  be 
truths,  but  they  are  not  revealed  truths ;  they  may  belong  to  the 
gospel  scheme^  but  not  to  the  gospel  revelation. 

1  See  the  last  Essay  in  this  volume. 


ESSAY    V. 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW. 

There  are  very  many  passages  relative  to  the  Mosaic  Law 
occurring  in  the  writings  of  the  Apostle  Paul  (especially  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and  in  those  to  the  Galatians  and 
to  the  Hebrews),  whose  most  obvious  and  simple  interpreta- 
tions at  least  would  seem  to  imply  the  entire  abolition  of  that 
law  by  the  establishment  of  the  gospel.  For  instance,  Rom. 
vii.  6 :  "  But  now  we  are  delivered  from  the  law,  that  being 
dead  wherein  we  were  held  ; "  —  or,  according  to  another,  and 
perhaps  better  reading,  which  makes  no  material  diflference, 
"  being  dead  to  that  law  wherein  we  were  held."  And  these 
passages  constitute  one  class  of  those  from  which  such  perni- 
cious consequences  have  been  sometimes  deduced,  and  oftener, 
perhaps,  apprehended,  as  have  occasioned  the  writings  of  this 
apostle  to  be  regarded  by  some  persons  with  suspicion  and 
alarm.  A  few,  and  but  a  few,  have  openly  inferred  —  a  greater 
number  probably  have  incautiously  led  their  hearers  to  infer  — 
from  Paul's  declarations  relative  to  our  justification  "  by  faith 
without  the  deeds  of  the  law,"  that  the  Christian  is  under  no 
obligation  to  the  practice  of  virtue  —  nor  incurs,  if  he  be  one 
of  the  elect,  any  spiritual  danger  from  the  commission  of  sin  ; 
and  the  dread  of  this  Antinomian  system  has  occasioned  others, 
as  I  have  before  remarked,  to  withdraw  their  own  and  their 
hearers '  attention,  either  from  the  writings  of  this  apostle  alto- 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW.  1^3 

getlier,  or  from  those  parts  of  them  which  are  thought  to  coun- 
tenance such  a  doctrine. 

§  I.  That  the  virtuous  or  vicious  conduct  of  a  Christian  have 
nothing  to  do  with  his  final  salvation,  and  are 
indiiFerent   in    God's  sight,   has   been   inferred     system  "supposed 
from  total  abrogation,  under  the  gospel  scheme,     *^Jy^  iTrttion 
of  the  Mosaic  law;  which  abrogation,  it  is  con-     ^I'^tive  to  the  abo- 

°  '  htion  of  the  law. 

tended,  the  apostle  plainly  declares,  without  any 
limitation  or  exception,  —  any  distinction  between  moral  and 
ceremonial,  or  civil  precepts.  On  the  other  side  is  urged  the 
strenuous  and  repeated  inculcation  of  moral  duties,  not  only  by 
the  other  sacred  writers,  but  by  Paul  himself  as  much  as  any ; 
together  with  his  earnest  and  express  denial  of  the  licentious 
consequences  w^hich  some  might  be  disposed  to  infer  from  his 
doctrines.  For  instance,  "  What  shall  we  say,  then  ?  shall  we 
continue  in  sin  that  grace  may  abound ?  God  forbid!"  And 
again,  "  Shall  we  sin  because  we  are  not  under  the  law,  but 
under  grace  ?  God  forbid ! "  And  hence  it  is  concluded  that 
that  abolition  of  the  law  which  is  spoken  of  relates  only  to  the 
ceremonial  and  civil  precepts  ;  and  that  the  moral  law  remains 
binding  on  all  men  forever. 

But  this  mode  of  stating  the  case,  though  substantially  cor- 
rect, leaves  a  considerable  difficulty  unsolved:  it  points  out, 
indeed,  the  inconsistency  of  the  Antinomian  scheme  with  one 
portion  of  the  apostle's  writings ;  but  it  leaves  unexplained, 
and,  consequently,  open  to  unfavorable  suspicion,  the  other 
portion  before  alluded  to  :  it  fails,  in  short,  to  reconcile  the 
writer  with  himself.  For,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he  does 
speak,  frequently  and  strongly,  of  the  termination  of  the  Mosaic 
law,  and  of  the  exemption  of  Christians  from  its  obligations, 
without  ever  limiting  and  qualifying  the  assertion, —  without 
even  hinting  at  a  distinction  between  one  part  which  is  abroga- 


144  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

ted,  and  anotlier  which  remains  in  full  force.  It  cannot  be  said 
that  he  had  in  his  mind  the  ceremonial  law  alone,^  and  was 
alluding  merely  to  the  abolition  of  that ;  for  in  the  very  passages 
in  question  he  makes  such  allusions  to  sin  as  evidently  show 
that  he  had  the  moral  law  in  his  mind ;  as,  for  instance,  where 
he  says,  "The  law  was  added  because  of  transgressions," — 
"  by  the  law  was  the  knowledge  of  sin  ; "  with  many  other  such 
expressions.  And  it  is  remarkable  that  even  when  he  seems 
to  feel  himself  pressed  with  the  mischievous  practical  conse- 
quences which  either  had  been,  or  he  is  sensible  might  be, 
drawn  from  his  doctrines,  he  never  attempts  to  guard  against 
these  by  limiting  his  original  assertion,  —  by  declaring  that 
though  part  of  the  law  was  at  an  end,  still,  part  continued  to 
be  binding;  but  he  always  inculcates  the  necessity  of  moral 
conduct  on  some  different  ground.  For  instance,  "  What  shall 
we  say,  then  ?  shall  we  continue  in  sin  that  grace  may  abound  ? 
God  forbid !  "  He  does  not  then  add  that  a  part  of  the  Mosaic 
law  remains  in  force ;  but  urges  this  consideration,  "  How  shall 
we,  who  are  dead  to  sin,  live  any  longer  therein  ?  Know  ye 
not,  that  so  many  of  ns  as  were  baptized  in  Jesus  Christ  were 
baptized  into  his  death  ?  Therefore  we  are  buried  with  him 
by  baptism  into  death ;  that  like  as  Christ  was  raised  up  from 
the  dead  by  the  glory  of  the  Father,  even  so  we  also  should 

walk  in  newness  of  life." "  Knowing  this,  that  our  old 

man  is  crucified  with  Him,  that  the  body  of  sin  might  be  de- 
stroyed, that  henceforth  we  should  not  serve  si7i"  And  again, 
"  Shall  we  sin  because  we  are  not  under  the  law,  but  under 
grace  ?  Grod  forbid !  Know  ye  not  that  to  whom  ye  yield 
yourselves  servants  to  obey,  his  servants  ye  are  to  whom  ye 
obey,  whether  of  sin  unto  death,  or  of  obedience  unto  right- 
eousness ?  " "  being,  then,  made  free  from  sin,  ye  became 

the  servants  of  righteousness."  And  such,  also,  is  his  tone  in 
every  passage  relating  to  the  same  subject. 

1  See  Note  A,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW.  145 

§  n.  Now  let  us  but  adopt  the  obvious  interpretation  of  the 
apostle's  words,   and   admit  the  entire  abroora- 

^  ^  °  Obligations  of  con- 

tion,  according  to  him,  of  the  Mosaic  law,  con-     science  not  weak- 

.  ened  by  the  Chris- 

cluding  that  it  was  originally  designed  for  the     tian-s  freedom  from 

-r  T  -I  ,,.,..  7  the  Levitical  law. 

Israelites  alone,  and  that  its  dominion  over  tnem 
ceased  when  the  gospel  system  was  established,  and  we  shall  find 
that  this  concession  does  not  go  a  step  towards  introducing  the 
Antinomian  conclusion  that  moral  conduct  is  not  required  for 
Christians.  For  it  is  evident  that  the  natural  distinctions  of 
right  and  wrong,  which  conscience  points  out,  must  remain 
where  they  were.  These  distinctions,  not  having  been  intro- 
duced by  the  Mosaic  law,  cannot,  it  is  evident,  be  overthrown 
by  its  removal,  any  more  than  the  destruction  of  the  Temple 
at  Jerusalem  implied  the  destruction  of  the  Mount  Moriah 
whereon  it  was  built.  The  apostle  does  indeed  speak  in  some 
passages  of  the  law  as  having  been  a  guide  and  instructor  in 
matters  of  morality ;  as  where  he  says,  "  I  had  not  known  sin 
but  by  the  law ; "  but  that  this  must  not  be  understood,  in  the 
fullest  extent,  as  implying  that  no  moral  obligation  could  exist, 
or  could  be  understood,  independent  of  the  Mosaic  revelation, 
is  evident,  not  only  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  but  from  his 
own  remarks  in  the  same  epistle  relative  to  "the  Grentiles, 
which  have  not  the  law, "  being  capable  of  "  doing  hy  nature 
the  things  contained  in  the  law  ....  their  conscience  also 
bearing  witness,  and  their  thoughts  accusing  or  else  excusing 
one  another ; "  and  of  their  "  knowing  "  (in  cases  where  they 
committed  sin)  "  that  they  who  do  such  things  are  worthy  of 
death."  To  say,  therefore,  that  no  part  of  the  Jewish  law  is 
binding  on  Christians,  is  very  far  from  leaving  them  at  liberty 
to  disregard  all  moral  duties.  For,  in  fact,  the  very  definition 
of  a  moral  duty  implies  its  universal  obligation  independent 
of  all  enactment.  The  precepts  respecting  sacrifices,  for  in- 
stance, and  other  ceremonial  observances,  we  call  positive  or- 
13 


146  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

dinances  ;  meaning,  that  the  things  in  question  became  duties 
because  they  were  commanded.  The  commandment  to  love  one's 
neighbor  as  oneself,  on  the  contrary,  we  call  a  moral  precept, 
on  the  very  ground  that  this  was  a  thing  commanded  because  it 
was  right.  And  it  is  evident  that  what  was  right  or  wrong  in 
itself  before  the  law  existed,  must  remain  such  after  it  is  abro- 
gated. Before  the  commandments  to  do  no  murder,  and  to 
honor  one's  parents,  had  been  delivered  from  Mount  Sinai, 
Cain  was  cursed  for  killing  his  brother,  and  Ham  for  dishonor- 
ing his  father ;  which  crimes,  therefore,  could  not  cease  to  bo 
such,  at  least,  as  any  consequence  of  the  abolition  of  that  law. 

Nor  need  it  to  be  feared  that  to  proclaim  an  exemption 
from  the  Mosaic  law  should  leave  men  without  any  moral 
guide,  and  at  a  loss  to  distinguish  right  and  wrong ;  since,  after 
all,  the  light  of  reason  is  that  to  which  man  must  be  left,  in  the 
interpretation  of  that  very  law.  For  Moses,  it  should  be  re- 
membered, did  not  write  three  distinct  books,  —  one  of  the  cere- 
monial law,  one  of  the  civil,  and  a  third  of  the  moral ;  nor 
does  he  hint  at  any  such  distinction.  When,  therefore,  any 
one  is  told  that  a  part  of  the  Mosaic  precepts  are  binding  on  us, 
—  namely,  the  moral  ones,  —  if  he  ask  which  are  ihe  moral  pre- 
cepts, and  how  to  distinguish  them  from  the  ceremonial  and  the 
civil,  with  which  they  mingled,  the  answer  must  be,  that  his 
conscience,  if  he  consult  it  honestly,  will  determine  that  point. 
So  far,  consequently,  from  the  moral  precepts  of  the  law  being, 
to  the  Christian,  necessary  as  a  guide  to  his  judgment  in  de- 
termining what  is  right  and  wrong,  on  the  contrary  this  moral 
judgment  is  necessary  to  determine  what  are  the  moral  precepts 
of  Moses. 

The  study,  indeed,  of  the  moral  law  of  Moses  is  profitable  for 
instruction,  and  may  serve  to  aid  our  judgment  in  some  doubtful 
cases  that  may  occur,  provided  we  are  careful  to  bear  in  mind 
all  the  circumstances  under  which  each  precept  was  delivered. 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW.  147 

For  there  is  a  presumption^  that  what  was  commanded  or  pro- 
hibited bj  Moses  is  right  or  wrong  in  itself,  unless  some  reason 
can  he  assigned  which  makes  our  case  at  present  different  from 
that  of  the  Israelites,  —  some  circumstance  of  distinction,  which 
either  leaves  us  more  at  large  than  they,  or  (as  is  oftener  the 
case)  calls  for  a  higher  and  purer  moral  practice  from  us.  But 
to  consult  a  code  of  moral  precepts  for  instruction,  is  very  dif- 
erent  from  referring  to  that  as  a  standard,  and  rule  of  conduct. 
If  the  notion,  then,  that  such  as  are  not  under  the  Mosaic 
law,  are,  on  that  account,  exempt  from  all  moral  obligations, 
be  rejected  as  utterly  groundless  ;  and  if,  consequently,  no  prac- 
tical danger  or  absurdity  be  involved  in  the  supposition  of  that 
law  being  fully  abrogated,  the  conclusion  that  it  is  so  abrogated 
will  hardly  be  any  longer  open  to  doubt ;  being  evidently  the 
most  agreeable  to  the  apostle's  expressions  in  their  obvious, 
natural,  and  unrestrained  sense.^  And,  indeed,  the  very  law 
itself  indicates,  on  the  face  of  it,  that  the  whole  of  its  precepts 
were  intended  for  the  Israelites  exclusively  (on  which  suppo- 
sition they  cannot,  of  course,  be,  by  their  own  authority,  bind- 
ing on  Christians)  ;  not  only  from  the  intermixture  of  civil  and 
ceremonial  precepts  with  moral,  but  from  the  very  terms  in 
which  even  these  last  are  delivered.  For  instance,  there  can- 
not be  any  duties  more  clearly  of  universal  obligation  than  that 
of  the  worship  of  the  one  true  God  alone,  and  that  of  honoring 


1  See  Elements  of  Rhetoric:  "Presumptions." 

2  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  one  reason  which  makes  some  persons  reluctant 
to  acknowledge  the  total  abolition  of  the  Mosaic  law,  is  the  notion  that  the 
sanctity  of  the  "  Christian  Sabbath  "  depends  on  the  fourth  commandment,  and 
that,  consequently,  the  reverence  due  to  the  Lord's  Day  would  be  destroyed,  or 
impaired  by  our  admitting  the  Ten  Commandments  to  be  no  longer  binding. 
But  a  little  reflection  will  satisfy  any  candid  mind  that  there  is  no  ground  for 
any  such  suspicion,  and  that  all  the  various  opinions  respecting  the  Lord's  Day, 
however  reconcilable  with  each  other,  are  all  perfectly  reconcilable  with  the 
belief  of  the  abrogation  of  the  Mosaic  law.— On  this  point  I  have  otfered  some 
remarks  in  2^ote  B,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


148  WHATELTS  ESSAYS. 

parents ;  yet  the  precepts  for  both  of  these  are  so  delivered  as 
to  address  them  to  the  children  of  Israel  exclusively :  "  I  am 
the  Lord  thy  Grt)d.  who  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  E^f/pt, 
oat  of  the  house  of  bondage  ;  thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods 
but  me."  And  again,  "  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother, 
that  thy  days  may  he  long  in  the  land  tchich  the  Lord  thy  God 
giveth  theeP 

The  simplest  and  clearest  way,  then,  of  stating  the  case  with 
respect  to  the  present  question,  is,  to  lay  down,  on  the  one  hand, 
that  the  Mosaic  law  was  limited  both  to  the  nation  of  the  Israel- 
ites, and  to  the  period  before  the  gospel;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  the  natural  principles  of  morality,  which  (among 
other  things)  it  inculcates,  are.  from  their  own  character,  of 
universal  obhgation,  —  that  as,  on  the  one  hand,  "  no  Christian 
man  [as  our  Article  expresses  it]  is  ft-ee  from  the  observance  of 
those  commandments  which  are  called  moral,"  so,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  not  because  they  are  commandments  of  the  Mosaic 
law  that  he  is  bound  to  obey  them,  but  because  they  are  moraL 
Indeed,  there  are  ntmierous  precepts  in  the  laws,  for  instance, 
of  Solon  and  Mahomet,  from  a  conformity  to  which  no  Chris- 
tian can  pretend  to  exemption ;  yet,  though  we  are  bound  to 
practise  almsgiving,  and  several  other  duties  there  enjoined, 
and  to  abstain  from  murder,  for  instance,  and  false-witness  — 
which  these  lawgivers  forbid  —  no  one  would  say  that  a  part  of 
the  Koran  is  binding  on  Christians  ;  since  their  conduct  is  de- 
termined, not  by  the  authority  of  the  Koran,  but  by  the  nature 
of  the  case. 

§  TIT    The  remarks,  however,  which  have  been  offered,  may 

J  ^  ^        ^    perhaps  be  admitted  as  just,  by  some  who  will 

™Sif  ""^  ^t     y^^  ^  disposed  to  doubt  their  importance :  "The 

*"'*^  proposed   statement,"   they   may  say,   "of  the 

character  of  a  Christian's  moral  obhgations,  differs  fix)m  the 


ON  THE  ABOLinOX  OF  THE  LAW.  149 

one  opposed  to  it,  merely  a$  a  statement ;  there  is  substantially 
no  difference,  as  long  as  it  is  fully  admitted  that  the  Christian  is 
not  exempt  from  the  rules  of  morality."  But  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  the  difference  between  an  accurate  and  an  inac- 
curate statement  of  any  doctrine,  and  of  the  grounds  on  which  it 
rests,  is  of  no  slight  importance,  if  not  to  those  who  embrace 
the  doctrine,  at  least  in  reference  to  such  as  are  disposed  to 
reject  or  to  doubt  it.  It  is  giving  a  manifest  advantage  to  the 
advocates  of  error,  to  maintain  a  true  conclusion  in  such  a  form, 
and  on  such  grounds,  as  leave  it  open  to  unanswerable  objec- 
tions. And  this  has  been  particularly  the  case  in  the  present 
instance ;  for  the  only  shadow  of  probability  which  has  ever 
appeared  to  exist  on  the  Antinomian  side,  has  arisen  from  the 
question  having  been  made  to  turn  on  this  point,  whether  the 
Mosaic  law  be  entirely  abolished,  or  not.  One  who  denies  that 
it  is,  cannot  but  find  a  difficulty,  at  least,  in  reconciling  his 
position  with  many  passages  of  Scripture  ;  whereas,  if  we  ad- 
mit the  premise  which  the  Antinomians  contend  for,  but  show 
how  utterly  unconnected  it  is  with  their  extravagant  conclu- 
sion, —  if  we  show  that,  though  the  Mosaic  law  does  not  bind 
us,  our  moral  obligations  exist  quite  independent  of  that  law,  — 
the  monstrous  position  that  the  moral  conduct  of  Christians 
has  nothing  to  do  with  their  final  doom  is  at  once  exposed  as 
totally  untenable  and  absurd. 

§  lY.  It  may  be  thought,  however,  that  real,  decided  specula- 
tive Antinomians  are  so  rare,  and,  moreover,  are 

Speailatjre  leas 

SO  far  beyond  the  reach  of  sober  reasoning,  that  cfn«r«fhi»pgp. 
it  IS  scarcely  worth  while  to  devise  arguments 
for  their  refutation.  And  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  doc- 
trines in  question  are  not  at  all  prevalent  —  a  circumstance 
which  is  very  remarkable,  and  strongly  indicates  their  intrin- 
sic improbability ;  for  a  sv^tem  so  evidently  favorable  to  the 
13* 


150  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

natural  indolence  and  sinfulness  of  man  as  that  which  makes 
our  eternal  destiny  entirely  independent  of  our  moral  conduct, 
could  not  have  failed  to  become  highly  popular,  among  a  large 
class  at  least,  were  it  not  utterly  repugnant  to  reason.  A 
frightfully  large  portion  of  the  world  are,  undeniably,  practical 
Antinomians  ;  that  is,  they  live  as  if  they  did  not  expect  to  be 
hereafter  accountable  for  their  conduct;  and  yet  it  will  be 
found  that,  in  theory,  very  few  of  these  adopt  the  Antinomian 
hypothesis,  which  would  be  the  most  effectual  in  quieting  the 
conscience  of  the  sinner  —  a  circumstance  which  furnishes  most 
powerful  testimony  against  the  truth  of  that  hypothesis. 

But  however  small  may  be  the  danger  of  the  Antinomian 
heresy  gaining  ground,  the  right  interpretation  of  Scripture 
relative  to  this  point  is  not,  therefore,  the  less  important. 
The  opinion  that  the  gospel  exempts  men  from  moral  obliga- 
gation  is  not  the  error  which  I  have  principally  in  view,  but 
another,  much  more  prevalent,  —  that  of  suspecting  that  Paul 
lends  some  support  to  such  an  opinion  ;  and,  consequently,  of 
deprecating  the  authority,  or  discouraging  the  study,  of  his 
writings.  It  is  on  this  account  chiefly  that  I  have  endeavored 
to  show,  in  this  and  two  former  Essays,  how  far  this  apostle 
is  from  affording  any  countenance  to  certain  doctrines,  the 
advocates  of  which  usually  appeal  to  his  authority. 

But  another  (and  perhaps  still  more  important)  use  may  be 
made  of  the  view  which  has  been  now  taken.  The  apostle, 
we  find,  while  he  earnestly  contends  for  the  entire  abolition  of 
the  Mosaic  law,  still  recognizes  the  authority  of  that  moral 
law  which  is  written  on  man's  heart.  This  consideration  not 
only  deprives  Antinomians  of  all  shadow  of  support  for  their 
system,  and  removes  the  prejudice  which  might  exist  against 
the  apostle,  but  it  also  leads  us  to  reflect  on  his  method  of 
inculcating  moral  duties,  and  on  his  reasons  for  adopting  it. 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW.  151 

If  men  are  tiiuglit  to  regard    the   .Mosaic  law  (^vith  the  ex- 
ception of  the  civil  and  ceremonial  ordinances) 

Liability  C)f  men 

as  their  appointed  rule  of  life,  they  will  be  dis-  to  content  thcm- 
posed  to  lower  the  standard  of  Christian  morality,  observance  of  ex- 
by  contenting  themselves  with  a  literal  adherence  to  ^"^"^  commands, 
the  express  commands  of  that  law  ;  or,  at  least,  merely  to  enlarge 
that  code,  by  the  addition  of  such  precise  moral  precepts  as  they 
find  distinctly  enacted  in  the  New  Testament.  Now  this  was 
very  far  from  being  the  apostle's  view  of  the  Christian  life.  Not 
only  does  the  gospel  require  a  morality  in  many  respects 
higher  and  more  perfect  in  itself  than  the  law,  but  it  places 
morality,  universally,  on  higher  grounds.  Instead  of  precise 
rules,  it  furnishes  sublime  principles  of  conduct ;  leaving  the 
Christian  to  apply  these,  according  to  his  own  discretion,  in 
each  case  that  may  arise,  and  thus  to  be  "  a  law  unto  himself." 
Gratitude  for  the  redeeming  love  of  God  in  Christ,  with  min- 
gled veneration  and  affection  for  the  person  of  our  great 
Waster,^  and  an  exalted  emulation,  leading  us  to  tread  in  his 
steps,  —  an  ardent  longing  to  behold  his  glories,  and  to  enjoy  his 
presence  in  the  world  to  come,  with  an  earnest  effort  to  pre- 
pare for  that  better  world,  — love  towards  our  brethren  for  His 
sake  who  died  for  us  and  them,  —  and,  above  all,  the  thought 
that  the  Christian  is  a  part  of  "  the  temple^  of  the  Holy  Ghost," 
who  dwelleth  in  the  church,  even  the  spirit  of  Christ,  with- 
out which  we  are  none  of  his,"  a  temple  which  we  are  bound 
to  keep  undefiled,  —  these,  and  such  as  these,  are  the  gospel 
principles  of  morality,  into  a  conformity  with  which  the  Chris- 
tian is  to  fashion  his  heart  and  his  life;  and  they  are  such 
principles  as  the  Mosaic  dispensation  could  not  furnish.  The 
Israelites,  as  not  only  living  under  a  revelation  which  had  but 
a  shadow  of  the  good  things  of  the  gospel,  but  also  as  a  dull, 
and  gross-minded,  and  impeifectly  civilized  people,  in  a  condi- 

1  See  Essay  III.,  First  Series.  2  See  Bishop  Hinds's  Three  Temples. 


152  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

tion  corresponding  to  that  of  childhood,  were  in  few  things  left 
to  their  own  moral  discretion,  but  were  furnished  with  precise 
rules  in  most  points  of  conduct.  These  answered  to  the  exact 
regulations  under  which  children  are  necessarily  placed,  and 
which  are  gradually  relaxed  as  they  advance  towards  maturity  : 
not  at  all  on  the  ground  that  good  conduct  is  less  required  of 
men  than  of  children ;  but  that  they  are  expected  to  be  more 
capable  of  regulating  their  own  conduct  by  their  own  discretion, 
and  of  acting  upon  principle. 

§  V.  "When,  then,  the  Mosaic  code  was  abolished,  we  find  no 
Principles  Bub-    other  system  of  rules  substituted  in  its  place. 
under'^thT  go"spIl     ^"^  ^^^'^  ^"^  ^^^  apostlcs  cnforccd  such  duties 
dispensation.  g^g  wcrc  the  most  liable  to  be  neglected,  —  cor- 

rected some  prevailing  errors,  —  gave  some  particular  direc- 
tions which  particular  occasions  called  for,  —  but  laid  down 
no  set  of  rules  for  the  conduct  of  a  Christian.  They  laid  down 
Christian  principles  instead  ;  they  sought  to  implant  Christian 
dispositions.  And  this  is  the  more  remarkable,  inasmuch  as 
we  may  be  sure,  from  the  nature  of  man,  that  precise  regula- 
tions, even  though  somewhat  tedious  to  learn,  and  burdensome 
to  observe,  would  have  been  highly  acceptable  to  their  con- 
verts.^ Hardly  any  restraint  is  so  irksome  to  man  (that  is,  to 
"  the  natural  man  ")  as  to  be  left  to  his  own  discretion,  yet 
still  required  to  regulate  his  conduct  according  to  certain  prin- 
ciples, and  to  steer  his  course  through  the  intricate  channels  of 
life,  with  a  constant  vigilant  exercise  of  his  moral  judgment. 
It  is  much  more  agreeable  to  human  indolence  (though  at  first 
sight  the  contrary  might  be  supposed)  to  have  a  complete  sys- 

1  If  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  for  instance,  had  been  three  times  as  long,  and 
had  consisted,  not,  as  it  does,  of  a  delineation  of  Christian  dispositions,  but  of  a 
catalogue  of  minute  diicctions  lor  particular  cases,  it  would  doubtless  have  been 
more  satisfactory  to  the  hearers.  But  for  some  further  remarks  on  our  Lord's 
mode  of  conveying  moral  instruction,  see  Essay  VII. 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW.  153 

tern  of  laws  laid  down,  —  which  are  to  be  observed  according  to 
the  letter,  not  to  the  spirit,  and  which,  as  long  as  a  man  ad- 
heres to  them,  afford  both  a  consolatory  assurance  of  safety 
and  an  unrestrained  liberty  as  to  every  point  not  determined 
by  them,  —  than  to  be  called  upon  for  incessant  watchfulness, 
careful  and  candid  self-examination,  and  studious  cultivation 
of  certain  moral  dispositions. 

Accordingly,  most,  if  not  all  systems  of  man's  devising 
(whether  corruptions  of  Christianity,  or  built  Tendency  to  pre- 
on  any  other  foundation),  will  be  found,  even  in  LrttVrihfu; 
what  appear  their  most  rigid  enactments,  to  be  seif-govemment. 
accommodated  to  this  tendency  of  the  human  heart.  When  Ma- 
homet, for  instance,  enjoined  on  his  disciples  a  strict  fast  during  a 
certain  period,  and  an  entire  abstinence  from  wine  and  from 
games  of  chance,  and  the  devotion  of  a  precise  portion  of  their 
property  to  the  poor, — leaving  them  at  liberty,  generally,  to  fol- 
low their  own  sensual  and  worldly  inclinations,  —  he  imposed  a 
far  less  severe  task  on  them  than  if  he  had  required  them  con- 
stantly to  control  their  appetites  and  passions,  to  repress  covet- 
ousness,  and  to  be  uniformly  temperate,  charitable,  and  heavenly- 
minded.  And  had  Paul  been  (as  a  false  teacher  always  will 
be)  disposed  to  comply  with  the  expectations  and  wishes  which 
his  disciples  would  naturally  form,  he  would  doubtless  have 
referred  them  to  some  part  of  the  Mosaic  law  as  their  standard 
of  morality,  or  would  have  substituted  some  other  system  of 
rules  in  its  place.  Indeed,  there  is  a  strong  reason  to  think, 
especially  from  what  we  find  in  1  Corinthians)  that  some- 
thing of  this  nature  had  actually  been  desired  of  him.  He 
seems  to  have  been  applied  to  for  more  precise  rules  than  he 
was  willing  to  give,  particularly  as  to  the  lawfulness  of  going 
to  idol  feasts,  and  as  to  several  points  relative  to  marriage  and 
celibacy  —  concerning  which,  and  other  matters,  he  gives  briefly 
such  directions   as  the   occasion   rendered  indispensable,   but 


154  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

breaks  off  into  exhortations  to  "  use  this  world  as  not  abusing 
it,"  and  speedily  recurs  to  the  general  description  of  the  Chris- 
tian character,  and  the  inculcation  of  Christian  principles. 
He  will  not  be  induced  to  enter  into  minute  details  of  things 
forbidden  and  permitted,  enjoined  and  dispensed  with  ;  and 
even  when  most  occupied  in  repelling  the  suspicion  that  gospel 
liberty  exempts  the  Christian  from  moral  obligation,  instead  of 
retaining  or  framing  anew  any  system  of  prohibitions  and  in- 
junctions, he  urges  upon  his  hearers  the  very  consideration  of 
their  being  exempt  from  any  such  childish  trammels  as  a  reason 
for  their  aiming  at  a  more  perfect  holiness  of  life,  on  purer  and 
more  generous  motives.  "  Sin,"  he  says,  "  shall  not  have  domin- 
ion over  you  ;  for  ye  are  not  under  the  law,  hut  under  grace  ;  " 
and  he  perpetually  incites  them  to  walk  "  worthy  of  their  voca- 
tion," on  the  ground  of  their  being  "  bought  with  a  price,"  and 
bound  to  "live  unto  Him  who  died  for  them ;"— "as  risen  with 
Christ "  to  a  new  life  of  holiness,  —  exhorted  to  "  set  their 
affections  on  things  above,  not  on  things  on  the  earth ;  "  —  as 
"living  sacrifices"  to  God;  —  as  "the  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  called  upon  to  keep  God's  dwelling-place  undefiled, 
and  to  abound  in  all  "  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit ; "  —  and  as  "  being 
delivered  from  the  law,  that  we  should  serve  in  newness  of  the 
spirit,  and  not  in  the  oldness  of  the  letter." 

He  who  seeks,  then  (as  many  are  disposed  to  do),  either  in 
the  Old  Testament  or  in  the  New  for  a  precise  code  of  laws 
by  which  to  regulate  his  conduct,  mistakes  the  character  of  our 
religion.  It  is  indeed  an  error,  and  a  ruinous  one,  to  think 
that  we  may  "  continue  in  sin,  because  we  are  not  under  the 
law  but  under  grace  ; "  but  it  is  also  an  error,  and  a  far  com- 
moner one,  to  inquire  of  the  Scriptures,  in  each  case  that  may 
occur,  what  we  are  strictly  bound  to  do  or  to  abstain  from,  and 
to  feel  secure  as  long  as  we  transgress  no  distinct  command- 
ment.    But  he  who  seeks  with  sincerity  for  Christian  princi- 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW.  155 

pies  will  not  fail  to  find  them.  If  we  endeavor,  through  the 
aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  trace  on  our  own  heart  the  delineation 
of  the  Christian  character  which  the  Scriptures  present,  and  to 
conform  all  our  actions  and  words  and  thoughts  to  that  char- 
acter, our  heavenly  Teacher  will  enable  us  to  "  have  a  right 
judgment  in  all  things  ;"  and  we  shall  be  "  led  by  the  Spirit" 
of  Christ  to  follow  his  steps,  and  to  "  purify  ourselves  even  as 
he  is  pure,"  that,  "  when  he  shall  appear,  we  may  be  made 
like  unto  him,  and  may  behold  him  as  he  is." 


156  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 


NOTES  TO  ESSAY  V. 


Note  A  —  Page  144. 

It  appears  plainly  from  the  Acts  and  from  the  Epistles  that  the 
Jewish  Christians  continued  to  adhere  to  the  observances  and  rules 
of  the  Levitical  law  as  national  customs ;  and  they  did  so  down  to 
the  time,  probably,  of  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  and  iSnal  overthrow 
of  the  Jewish  polity.     (See  Acts  xviii.  18,  and  xxi.  24.) 

To  some  it  has  appeared  a  difficulty  to  understand  why  the  Apos- 
tle Paul  in  particular  should  have  not  merely  allowed  this,  but  ap- 
parently even  made  a  point  of  it,  while  at  the  same  time,  so  far  from 
insisting  on  the  Gentile  converts  observing  the  ceremonial  law,  he 
earnestly  protested  against  their  doing  so.  To  them  he  declared 
that  "  if  they  were  circumcised  [denoting,  I  conceive,  by  that  word, 
the  observance,  generally,  of  the  ceremonial  law]  Christ  profited 
them  nothing ; "  while,  on  the  other  hand,  he  himself  made  an  open 
display  of  his  strict  compliance  with  the  customs  and  observances  of 
his  people. 

Some  might  at  first  sight  be  led  to  expect  that  the  principle  he  lays 
down  —  "in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  avalleth  anything, 
nor  uncircumcision,  but  a  new  creature  "  —  would  have  led  him  to 
disregard  altogether  the  whole  question  respecting  the  ceremonial 
law,  and  to  leave  all  men  to  their  own  judgment  or  inclination. 

But  on  more  attentive  reflection  we  shall  perceive  the  admirable 
wisdom  of  his  procedure,  and  its  exact  conformity  with  the  above 
principle.  The  ceremonial  observances  of  the  law  being  a  matter 
of  perfect  indifference  as  far  as  the  gospel  is  concerned,  —  neither 
a  part  of  it,  nor  contrary  to  it,  —  the  only  way  of  practically  com- 
plying with  this  principle,  was,  that.  In  respect  of  such  observances, 
every  one  should  remain  just  as  he  had  been  before  ;  neither  adopting 
nor  discontinuing,  on  becoming  a  Christian,  national  customs  which 
Christianity  neither  enjoins  nor  forbids,  —  should  "  continue  [as  the 
apostle  expresses  it]  in  his  vocation  wherein  he  was  called."  (See 
Hinds's  History  of  the  Rise  of  Christianity.) 

If  those  who  had  been  accustomed,  for  instance,  to  eat  all  kinds 
of  meats  had  begun,  on  becoming  Christians,  to  abstain  from  swine's 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW.  157 

flesh,  etc.,  this  would  have  implied  that  that  abstinence,  and  other  such 
observances,  were  regarded  by  them  as  a  part  of  Christianity ;  it 
would  have  implied  their  attributing  some  justifying  efficacy  to  these 
"  works  of  the  law."  And  the  apostle  reprobates,  accordingly,  such 
an  error  as  most  pernicious  and  unchristian  ;  saying  that  he  who 
seeks  this  justification  is  "  fallen  from  grace  "  (namely,  the  grace  of 
the  gospel),  "  and  that  Christ  is  become  of  none  effect  to  him."  But 
if,  again,  any  one  who  was  a  Jew  by  nation  had  departed  from  their 
customs  on  becoming  a  Christian,  he  would  have  implied  a  belief 
that  those  national  customs  were  something  contrary  to  Christian- 
ity,—  that  there  was  some  Christian  virtue  in  the  opposite  customs. 
Now  this  would  have  been  no  less  an  error  than  the  other ;  for  the 
eating,  for  instance,  of  swine's  flesh,  was  no  more  a  part  of  Christian- 
ity than  the  abstaining  from  it. 

And  there  was  the  more  need,  it  may  be  added,  to  guard  against 
the  latter  of  these  two  errors,  on  account  of  the  prevalence  at  that 
time  of  the  heresy  of  the  Gnostics,  who  taught  that  the  Mosaic  law 
was  not  of  divine  origin,  but  devised  either  by  an  evil,  or  by  an  infe- 
rior and  fallible  being  (the  Demiourgos),  and  therefore  deserving  of 
abhorrence  or  contempt. 

When,  indeed,  the  city  and  temple  had  been  finally  destroyed  by 
the  Romans,  and  the  people  dispersed,  then,  and  from  thenceforward 
down  to  the  present  day,  there  was  no  longer  the  same  reason  for 
converted  Jews  to  adhere  to  those  observances  which  could  no 
longer  be  regarded  as  national  customs  (the  national  polity  being 
entirely  subverted),  but  rather  as  badges  of  a  religious  persuasion. 
But  during  the  subsistence  of  that  polity,  the  example  and  the  ad- 
vice of  the  apostles  tended  to  leave  all  Christians,  Jew  and  Gentile, 
each  "  in  his  vocation  wherein  he  was  called ; "  neither  discontinuing 
nor  adopting  any  customs  that  were,  as  far  as  regards  Christianity, 
matters  of  perfect  indifference. 

The  most  anxious  care  was  taken,  and  the  most  admirable  wisdom 
evinced,  in  guarding  men  against  mixing  up  with  gospel  truth  any- 
thing —  no  matter  what  —  that  is  no  part  of  it ;  and  in  warning  them 
of  the  several  superstitions  which,  though  seemingly  opposite,  were 
essentially  the  same. 

Note  B  —  Page  147. 
Several  different  opinions  are  to  be  met  with  as  to  the  ground  on 
which  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day  should  be  maintained ;  none 
U 


158  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

of  wticb,  however,  —  though  they  cannot  all  be  correct, — are  in 
reality  at  variance  with  what  has  been  said  respecting  the  abrogation 
of  the  Levitical  law. 

In  the  former  editions  I  entered  into  an  examination  of  these  sev- 
eral opinions,  and  a  defense  of  the  one  which  appears  to  me  the  best 
founded  ;  and  was  thus  led  into  a  discussion,  not,  I  trust,  unprofita- 
ble, but  longer  than  I  had  originally  designed,  or  than  was  perhaps 
warranted  by  the  degree  of  connection  it  had  with  the  immediate 
subject  of  the  Vth  Essay.  That  dissertation  being  now  separately 
pubhshed  under  the  title  of  Thoughts  on  the  Sabbath,  I  have  judged 
it  best  to  refer  my  readers  to  it  for  a  fuller  examination  of  the  several 
questions  that  have  been  raised ;  confinmg  the  present  Note  chiefly  to 
the  one  point  more  immediately  relating  to  the  subject  now  before 
us ;  namely,  that  (as  has  been  already  said)  none  of  the  prevailing 
opinions,  however  irreconcilable  with  each  other,  are  necessarily  at 
variance  with  the  doctrine  that  the  obligations  of  the  Levitical  law 
are  at  an  end. 

The  several  opinions  respecting  the  grounds  of  the  observance  of 
the  Lord's  Day  may  be  classed  under  four  heads : 

1.  Some  hold  that  the  Lord's  Day  is  essentially  a  Christian  festival, 
observed  in  conformity  with  the  practice  of  the  apostles  and  of  their 
followers  in  every  Christian  church  from  their  time  downwards ;  that 
it  agrees  with  the  Jewish  Sabbath  only  inasmuch  as  it  is  observed 
on  one  day  in  every  seven,  agreeably  to  the  division  of  time  into 
weeks,  derived  from  the  Jews,  the  nation  in  which  Christianity  orig- 
inated ;  but  that  it  differs  from  the  Jewish  Sabbath  in  being  observed 
on  a  different  day  of  the  week,  on  a  different  authority,  in  a  dif- 
ferent manner,  and  in  commemoration  of  a  different  event,^  —  the 
resurrection  of  the  Lord  Jesus  on  the  first  day  of  the  week 

2.  Some  hold  that  the  Lord's  Day  is  observed  on  the  authority,  not 
of  the  fourth  commandment,  but  of  a  precept  delivered  to  all  mankind 
at  the  creation,  and  which  is  alluded  to  in  the  beginning  of  Genesis. 

3.  The  observance  of  Sunday  as  a  Christian  Sabbath  is  by  some 
persons  derived  from  the  Mosaic  law,  on  the  ground  of  its  being 
one  of  the  moral  precepts  of  that  law. 

1  The  universal  observance  among  Christians,  in  distant  ages  and  countries, 
and  differing  in  so  many  points  of  doctrine  and  practice,  of  some  Christian  fes- 
tivals,—such  as  Christmas  Day,  Good  Friday,  and  the  Lord's  Day,  —is  in  many 
points  of  view  a  most  interesting  fact. 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW.  159 

4.  Lastly,  some  maintain  that  the  fourth  commandment,  as  a  pos- 
itive precept,  is  binding  on  Christians ;  but  that  the  duties  and  obli- 
gations pertaining  originally  to  the  seventh  day  were  transferred  by 
the  authority  of  the  apostles  to  the  first  day ;  —  in  short,  that  they 
changed  the  Sabbath  from  Saturday  to  Sunday. 

Now,  each  of  these  different  opinions  will  be  found  on  reflection 
to  be  perfectly  reconcilable  with  what  I  have  maintained  relative 
to  the  abrogation  of  the  Mosaic  law. 

1.  "With  respect  to  the  first  of  these  opinions  this  is  obvious.  A 
festival  peculiarly  and  exclusively  Christian  cannot  be  in  any  way 
affected  —  any  more  than  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  —  by 
the  abolition  of  the  law  of  Moses. 

2.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  second  of  the  opinions  noticed.  A 
command  delivered  at  the  creation  to  the  whole  human  race  cannot 
be  affected  by  the  abolition  of  a  law  delivered  many  ages  afterwards 
to  the  one  nation  of  Israel. 

3.  A  moral  precept,  again,  must,  by  its  own  character —  because  it 
is  a  moral  precept  —  be  binding  on  all  men,  in  every  age  and  coun- 
try, Independent  of  any  enactment. 

4.  And  those  who  hold  that  the  obligations  of  the  Sabbath  were 
transferred  by  the  apostles  from  Saturday  to  Sunday,  —  though  their 
doctrine  is  extremely  liable  to  be  so  understood  as  to  imply  that  the 
Mosaic  law  is  not  abrogated,  —  yet  may  perceive  on  attentive  re- 
flection that  this  conclusion  does  not  necessarily  follow.  For  this 
(supposed)  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  by  the  apostles  would  plainly 
amount  to  a  reenactment  by  the  divine  authority  of  those  apostles ; 
so  that  the  Christian  Sabbath,  being  thus  made  to  depend  on  their 
command,  cannot  be  affected  by  the  abrogation  of  the  Levitical  law. 
"We  all  know  that  when,  in  secular  matters,  some  law  is  repealed 
by  a  subsequent  act,  which  declares  at  the  same  time  that  such  and 
such  a  clause  of  the  former  law  shall,  under  certain  modifications, 
continue  in  force,  then  the  clause  so  modified  is  binding  by  virtue  of 
the  very  act  which  repealed  the  original  law.  Any  alteration,  there- 
fore, made  by  the  apostles  in  the  Jewish  Sabbath  (namely,  as  to  the 
day  and  the  mode  of  the  observance)  plainly  amounts  to  an  institution 
by  them  of  the  Christian  Sabbath. 

Now,  the  authority  of  an  apostolical  institution  no  one  can  con- 
sider as  weakened  by  the  abrogation  of  the  Mosaic  law. 

The  doctrine  in  question,  however,  —  though  the  above  is,  I  think, 
the  fairest  way  of  considering  it,  —  yet  is  liable  (as  has  been  just  ob- 


160  V/HATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

served)  to  be  so  understood  —  and,  I  believe,  often  is  so  understood 
—  as  to  nullify  all  that  I  have  urged  respecting  the  entire  abrogation 
of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  to  establish  a  principle  which,  If  consistently 
followed  out,  would  go  to  subject  Christians  to  all  the  obligations  of 
that  law. 

I.  The  first  of  the  opinions  alluded  to,  —  that  which  places  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Lord's  Day  wholly  on  a  Christian  foundation, — has 
a  strong  presumption  in  Its  favor  from  its  general  prevalence  among 
Christians,  —  even  those  most  widely  separated  from  each  other,  not 
only  In  age  and  country,  but  also  In  their  opinions  and  practices  m 
several  other  points.  With  scarcely  any  exception  but  that  of  a 
portion  —  certainly  a  considerable  portion  —  of  the  inhabitants  of 
these  Islands  (and  of  their  American  descendants)  for  about  the  last 
two  centuries,  the  opinion  I  now  advert  to  has  been  the  prevailing 
one  throughout  the  whole  Christian  world,  In  every  age  and  country. 
This  does  not  indeed  amount  to  more  than  a  very  strong  presump- 
tion of  the  soundness  of  the  doctrine ;  but  that  It  should  have  been 
represented  as  not  only  unsound,  but  novel  and  singular,  is  quite 
unaccountable. 

Of  the  later  divines  who  have  taken  this  view,  the  best  known  is 
Dr.  Paley,  whose  Moral  Philosophy  is  in  the  hands  of  almost  every 
educated  person  In  the  empire.  Of  our  earlier  divines,  —  the  Re- 
formers of  our  church  and  those  who  lived  near  their  times,  —  there 
were  scarcely  any  who  took  any  other  view  than  that  I  am  now  ad- 
verting to ;  which.  Indeed,  was  In  those  days  so  little  disputed  that 
most  of  those  writers  implied,  by  their  silence  on  the  subject,  or  their 
slight  and  Incidental  allusions  to  It,  that  they  did  not  consider  the 
doctrine  as  requiring  to  be  defended,  or  even  formally  stated.  For 
example,  throughout  the  whole  of  our  Liturgy  and  Rubric 
the  word  Sdbbaili  never  once  occurs.  Our  Reformers,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe,  concurred  in  taking  the  same  view  of  the  obliga- 
tion of  the  fourth  commandment  as  is  set  forth  in  the  Catechism 
extant  under  the  name  of  Archbishop  Cranmer,  published  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Sixth :  "  The  Jews,  In  the  Old 
Testament,  were  commanded  to  keep  the  Sabbath-day;  and  they 
observed  It  every  seventh  day,  called  the  Sabbat,  or  Satterday.  But 
we  Christian  men  In  the  New  Testament  are  not  bound  to  such 
commandments  of  Moses'  law,"  etc.  etc. 

The  reader  who  would  examine  further  the  opinions  on  this  point 
of  our  early  divines,  is  referred  to  Dr.  Ileylin's.  History  of  the  Sal> 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW.  161 

bath,  Baxter's  Practical  Works  (p.  764),  Bishop  Taylor's  Ductor 
Dubitantium,  Bishop  Sanderson's  Cases  of  Conscience,  Bishop  Bram- 
hall's  Dissertation,  etc. 

II.  In  reference  to  the  second  of  the  opinions  above  noticed,  which 
rests  the  obligation  of  observing  the  Lord's  Day  on  a  command  given 
at  the  creation,  I  so  far  agree  -with  It  as  to  think  It  highly  probable 
that  some  Sabbatical  Institution  In  memory  of  the  creation  existed  In 
the  patriarchal  times.  It  must  have  been  indeed  something  less  strict 
than  the  Mosaic  ordinance,  else  the  Sabbaths  could  not  have  been 
"  a  SIGN  between  the  Lord  and  the  people  of  Israel,"  distinguishing 
them  from  the  other  nations ;  but  that  some  kind  of  observance  of 
the  seventh  day  existed  prior  to  the  Mosaic  law.  Is  a  conclusion 
reasonably  to  be  drawn  (though  not  to  be  Insisted  on  as  a  necessary 
article  of  faith)  from  the  wide  diflfusion  of  the  custom  of  dividing 
time  into  weeks,  even  among  the  Pagans,  whose  religion  was  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  patriarchal.  Even  In  the  agreement  of  several  differ- 
ent nations  In  dedicating  each  day  of  the  week  to  some  one  of  their 
false  gods,  some  trace  may  be  perceived  of  the  true  origin  of  the 
hebdomadal  division.^ 

But  the  question  Is  rather  speculative  than  practical.  The  precept, 
if  any  such  was  originally  delivered,  of  observing  the  last  day  of  the 
week  as  a  Sabbath,  In  memory  of  the  close  of  the  creation,  never  in 
fact  Jias  been  observed  by  Christians,  with  the  exception  of  a  very 
small  number,  in  the  early  churches,  of  men  who  were  tinctured 
with  Judaism.  And  If  a  law  designed  to  be  universal  and  perpetual 
had  been  dehvered,  God  would  surely  never  have  left  It  to  be  In- 
ferred by  uncertain  conjecture,  but  would  have  plainly  recorded  it. 
To  leave  men  In  doubt  what  their  obligations  are.  Is  always  reckoned 
one  of  the  most  inexcusable  blunders  In  legislation,  and  such  as  It 
would  be  profane  to  attribute  to  the  Deity.  The  very  notion  of  a 
probable  law,  emanating  from  a  perfectly  wise  and  good  Being,  may 
fairly  be  regarded  as  a  contradiction  in  terms. 

III.  As  for  those  who  represent  the  fourth  commandment  as  a 
part  of  the  moral  law,  and  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day  as  a 
fulfilment  of  It,  they  appear,  If  I  understand  their  meaning  (of  which, 

1  It  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  dedication,  among  so  many  different  nations, 
of  the  first  day  of  the  week  to  the  sun,  may  be  a  trace  of  the  commemoration 
of  the  day  on  which  "  God  said,  Let  there  be  Ught.^^  And  again,  Saturn,  to 
whom  the  seventh  day  was  dedicated,  is  generally  described  by  Pagan  writers 
08  connected  with  a  reign  of  peac<^ul  repose,  —  of  universal  and  unbroken  rest. 


162  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

however,  I  am  not  certain),  not  so  much  to  hold  any  peculiar  doc- 
trine, as  to  employ  their  terms  in  a  peculiar  and  unusual  sense ;  in- 
troducing needless  indistinctness  and  perplexity  by  the  want  of  a 
precise  mode  of  expression.  The  distinction  between  moral  (that  is, 
natural)  precepts  and  positive  precepts  (see  Essay  V.  §  II.)  is  too 
•well  established,  and  too  convenient,  to  be  lightly  departed  from.  It 
is  morally  right  to  obey  the  just  commands  of  a  lawful  superior,  even 
in  matters  originally  indifferent ;  but  still  we  should  distinguish  these 
from  things  not  originally  indifferent.  A  Jew  was  bound,  for  in- 
stance, both  to  honor  his  parents,  and  also  to  worship  at  Jerusalem ; 
but  the  former  was  commanded  because  it  was  right,  and  the  latter 
was  right  because  it  was  commanded.^ 

Now  it  is  plain  that  the  observance  of  one  day  in  seven  rather 
than  one  in  six,  or  one  in  eight,  or  in  ten,  and  the  observance  of  the 
last  day  of  the  week  rather  than  the  first  or  the  second,  must  be  — 
independently  of  any  positive  ordinance  —  a  matter  of  indifference. 

But  what  is  usually  meant,  I  believe,  by  those  who  reckon  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  part  of  the  moral  (that  is,  natural) 
law,  is  merely  that  it  is  a  moral  duty  to  devote  a  certain  portion  of 
time  (whether  a  certain  hour  in  each  day,  or  certain  days,  or  certain 
weeks  or  months)  to  devotion  and  religious  study ;  though  the  spec- 
ification of  particulars  is  a  matter  of  positive  enactment.  In  this 
sense  the  statement  is  true ;  and  it  is  equally  true  in  the  same  sense 
that  the  Levitical  sacrifices  were,  and  that  the  ordinance  of  the 
eucharist  is,  a  part  of  the  moral  law;  since  natural  conscience 
teaches  the  duty  of  worshipping  God,  though  not  the  particular 
mode  of  worship. 

IV.  Lastly,  the  opinion  of  those  who  hold  that  the  fourth  com- 
mandment is  binding  on  Christians,  but  that  the  Sabbath  was  trans- 
ferred by  the  apostles  from  the  last  day  of  the  week  to  the  first, 
although,  as  I  have  said,  it  is  not,  when  fairly  considered,  at  variance 
with  the  doctrine  of  the  general  abolition  of  the  Mosaic  law,  —  since 
such  a  transfer  by  the  apostolic  authority  would  plainly  amount  to  a 
reenactment  by  the  apostles  of  that  particular  ordinance  so  modi- 
fied,—  yet  I  must  say  that  I  can  see  no  plausible  grounds  for  the 


1  See  Lessons  on  Morals,  L,  II. 

2  When  Latin  was  the  common  language  of  the  greatest  part  of  Christendom, 
Dies  SabhatV^  seems  to  have  been  the  ordinary  designation  of  Saturday; 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW.  163 

The  Mosaic  law  of  the  Sabbath  was  delivered  very  plainly  and 
publicly,  with  special  solemnity,  and  with  such  particularity  as  to 
forbid  expressly  the  kindling  of  a  fire  (Ex.  xxxv.  2,  3).  Any  trans- 
ferrence,  therefore,  of  the  ordinance  from  one  day  to  another,  or 
any  other  modification  of  it,  we  might  have  expected  to  find  Intro- 
duced with  no  less  plainness,  solemnity,  and  precision,  and  not  left  to 
be  inferred  from  any  incidental  hints  or  traditional  interpretations. 
But  we  find  not  only  no  express  enactment,  or  even  hint  or  tradi- 
tion of  the  kind,  but  the  very  contrary.  We  find  in  the  book  of  Acts 
the  Sabbath  continually  mentioned,  always  as  the  Jewish  Sabbath, 
and  always  as  an  ordinance  regularly  observed  (in  common  with  the 
other  precepts  of  the  Levitical  law)  by  the  apostles  and  the  rest  of 
the  Jewish  Christians ;  and  this  at  the  very  time  when,  it  is  plain, 
they  were  actually  observing  the  Lord's  Day  as  a  day  of  Christian 
worship ;  assembling  "  the  disciples  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  to 
break  bread"  (that  is,  to  celebrate  the  eucharist),  —  those  very  Gen- 
tile disciples  whom  Paul  exhorts  to  "  let  no  man  judge  them  in  meat 
or  in  drink,  or  In  respect  of  a  holy  day,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the 
Sabbath-days,  which  are  a  shadow  of  things  to  come ;  but  the  body 
is  of  Christ." 

We  find,  in  short,  the  most  ample  evidence  of  the  observance  of 
the  Lord's  Day,  as  a  Christian  festival,  by  the  apostles  and  their 
immediate  converts,  whose  example  has  been  followed  by  all  Chris- 
tian churches  down  to  this  day ;  but  that  in  so  doing  they  conceived 
themselves  to  be  observing  a  precept  of  the  Levitical  law,  and  that 
they  taught  the  doctrine  of  a  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  from  one  day 
to  another,  we  find  not  only  no  evidence,  but  every  conceivable 
evidence  to  the  contrary. 

I  am  therefore  much  at  a  loss  to  understand  how  any  one  can 
really  entertain  a  doubt  on  the  question  who  does  but  read  the  New 
Testament  with  attention,  and  with  an  unprejudiced  mind ;  even 
without  consulting  as  an  interpreter  that  Liturgy  which  is  usually 
regarded  as  our  church's  commentary  on  the  Scriptures,  as  far  as 
regards  the  main  points  of  Christian  doctrine  and  duty. 

But  many  persons,  not  generally  uninquiring  or  uncandid  or  in- 
competent to  reason  accurately,  have  yet  been  so  early  accustomed 

which  is  still  so  called  in  those  official  documents  in  our  own  country  —  such  as 
the  daily  reports  of  the  proceedings  of  parliament — in  which  the  Latin  language 
is  retained  in  the  dates.  And  accordingly  Saturday  is  called  in  Italian  "  Sab- 
bato,"  and  in  Spanish  "  Sabbado." 


164  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

to  take  for  granted,  and  assent  to  on  authority,  certain  particular 
points,  that  they  afterwards  adhere  to  the  belief  so  formed  rather 
from  association  than  on  evidence.  And  some,  again,  through  the 
influence  of  a  feeling  which  I  have  described  in  Essay  I.  §  V.when 
inculcating  what  they  are  conscientiously  convinced  is  a  duty,  are  so 
fearful  of  unsettling  the  minds  (as  the  phrase  is)  of  their  hearers, 
that,  rather  than  use  any  argument,  which,  though  valid,  might  startle 
and  revolt  popular  prejudices,  they  will  avail  themselves  of  such 
as  they  know  will  be  readily  admitted,  though  really  unsound :  some- 
times even  cautioning  their  hearers  (as  I  know  to  have  been  done  in 
respect  of  the  present  question)  against  reading  anything  on  the 
other  side. 

They  probably  satisfy  themselves  with  the  consideration  that  the 
great  point  being  to  bring  men  to  a  right  practical  conclusion,  it  is  a 
matter  of  comparatively  small  moment  how  they  get  it.  And  it  may> 
I  am  sensible,  seem  to  many  that  it  is  a  mere  speculative  question, 
on  what  the  observance  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  is  made  to  depend, 
as  long  as  all  Christians  are  practically  agreed  that  it  shall  be  ob- 
served, and  observed  on  the  same  day  of  the  week,  —  the  first,  — 
and  observed  in  a  different  manner  from  that  prescribed  to  the 
Jews ;  who  were  forbidden,  among  other  things,  to  kindle  a  fire,  etc. 

Now  this  practical  agreement  does  certainly  make  any  hostile 
bitterness  on  such  a  question  doubly  unjustifiable,  and  aggravates 
greatly  the  culpability  of  any  slanderous  misrepresentation  of  the 
doctrine  maintained.  I  cannot,  however,  but  consider  it  as  practically 
very  dangerous  to  admit  a  principle  that  may  encourage  men  to  take 
liberties  with  any  divine  commandment  which  they  confess  to  be 
binding  on  them,  and  to  modify  it  according  to  human  tradition,  or 
any  kind  of  human  authority.  And  such  a  danger  cannot  but  be 
incurred,  if  we  teach  them  that  the  Mosaic  law  of  the  Sabbath  is 
binding  on  Christians,  while  we  also  teach  them  that  they  are  obey- 
ing it  by  observing  a  difierent  day  from  the  one  which  that  law 
appoints,  in  a  different  manner,  and  in  memory  of  a  different 
event.  And  it  is  every  way  desirable  that  they  should  be  taught 
not  only  in  practice  to  observe  the  Lord's  Day,  but  also  in  princi- 
ple ;  to  observe  it,  not  as  an  ordinance  enjoined  by  the  Mosaic  law, 
—  which  in  fact  it  is  not  —  nor  as  deriving  its  obligation,  even  if 
it  were  enjoined  there  from  a  law  which  the  apostle  assures  us 
does  not  bind  Christians,  —  but  on  the  reasonable  and  true  grounds 


ON  THE  ABOLITION  OF  THE  LAW.  165 

■which  I  have  endeavored  to  point  out  in  the  foregoing  pages,  —  as 
a  Christian  festival. 

For  a  fuller  elucidation  of  this  subject  than  would  be  suitable  to 
the  present  occasion,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  treatise  already- 
mentioned, —  Thoughts  on  the  Sabbath,  —  and  also  (besides  the 
authors  above  cited)  to  Bishop  Kaye's  Selections  from  the  Works  of 
Justin,  and  to  a  well-written  review  of  the  same  in  No.  X.  of  the 
British  Critic  ;  to  the  Remains  of  Bishop  Copleston,  lately  published ; 
to  several  parts  of  Augustine  and  the  other  early  Fathers  when  treat- 
ing of  the  Decalogue ;  and  to  Calvin's  Institutes  (lib.  ii.  ch.  8).  There 
is  also  an  article  on  the  word  Sabbath  in  the  Encyclop.  Metrop. 
which  may  be  worth  consulting,  as  it  sets  forth  very  clearly  all  (per- 
haps more  than  all)  that  can  be  urged  with  any  show  of  plausibility 
on  the  side  which  it  professes  to  favor ;  and,  though  only  a  part,  yet 
probably  enough  to  satisfy  an  intelligent  and  candid  reader  of  the 
reasons  on  the  opposite  w'de. 


ESSAY    VL 


ON  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

The  importance  of  obtaining  correct,  and  avoiding  erroneous 
notions  respecting  any  point  of  doctrine,  is  not  always  to  be 
measured  by  the  intrinsic  importance  of  the  doctrine  itself,  or 
by  the  practical  consequences  immediately  resulting  from  this 
or  that  view  of  it.  No  error  can  be  considered  as  harmless 
and  insignificant  which  tends  to  put  a  stumbling-block  in  the 
way  of  believers  in  the  gospel,  and  to  afford  to  infidels  or  her- 
etics the  advantage  of  a  plausible  objection  against  its  truths. 
The  genuine  and  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christianity  may 
become  liable  to  the  scoffs  of  some,  and  to  the  dread  or  disre- 
gard of  others,  from  their  supposed  connection  with  such  as 
are  in  fact  no  part  of  the  gospel  revelation.  It  then  becomes 
a  matter  of  importance  to  rectify  even  those  mistakes  which  are 
in  themselves  of  no  moment;  since  we  thus  (to  use  once  more 
the  expression  of  Dr.  Paley)  "  relieve  Christianity  of  a  weight 
that  sinks  it."  God  forbid  that  the  Christian  should  deny  or 
explain  away  anything  that  is  a  part  of  his  faith,  for  the  sake 
of  moderating  the  hostility  or  escaping  the  scorn  that  may  be 
directed  against  it ;  but  as  little  is  he  authorized  needlessly  to 
expose  his  religion  to  that  hostility  or  scorn  by  maintaining, 
or  allowing  to  be  maintained,  as  a  part  of  the  Christian  revela- 
tiont  any  tenet  (however  intrinsically  true)  which  the  Scrip- 
tures do  not  warrant.     The  same  authority  which  forbids  us  to 


ON  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  167 

"  diminish  aught "  from  the  word  of  God,  forbids  us  also  to 
"  add  thereto." 

That  the  Apostle  Paul's  authority  in  particular  has  been 
appealed  to  in  support  of  several  conclusions  which  are  in  fact 
not  taught  by  him,  I  have  already  endeavored  to  show,  princi- 
pally with  a  view  to  the  removal  of  that  dread  or  neglect  of  his 
writings  which  has  too  often  been  the  result. 

§  I.  Another  doctrine,  or  set  of  doctrines  rather,  there  is,  in 
support  of  which  this  apostle's  authority  is  prin- 
cipally referred  to,  and  which,  being  (whether  doctrine  of  the  im- 
deservedly  or  not)  regarded  by  many  with  sus-  frrns^esltl^l'^d 
picion  and  alarm,  or  with  disgust  and  contempt,  °^^  *|J®  chrur^"*' 
has  thus  proved  a  source  of  objection,  either  to 
the  gospel  scheme  altogether,  or  to  the  teaching  of  Paul  in 
particular,  of  which  such  tenets  have  been  supposed  to  form  a 
part.  I  allude  to  the  doctrine  of  "  imputed  sin  "  and  "  imputed 
righteousness,"  as  set  forth  by  some  writers  who  represent  it  as 
the  very  keystone  of  the  Christian  system. 

I  purposely  abstain  from  referring  to  any  authors  in  particu- 
lar, because  the  proper  character  of  a  calm  inquiry  after  truth, 
is  so  liable  to  be  lost  in  that  of  a  controversy  with  some  indi- 
vidual or  party  ;  and  the  discussion  of  any  question  thus  be- 
comes, though  more  interesting  perhaps  to  some  minds,  yet  less 
edifying ;  since,  after  all,  the  object  ultimately  proposed  should 
be,  not  the  confutation  of  this  or  that  theologian,  but  the  ascer- 
tainment of  the  genuine  doctrines  of  our  religion ;  which  must 
rest,  not  on  any  merely  human  authority,  but  on  that  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures. 

The  system  at  present  in  question,  as  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  collect  its  import,  may  be  briefly  stated  thus :  That 
when  our  first  parents  had  fallen  from  their  state  of  innocence,^ 

1  Some  writers  speak  of  man  as  being,  before  the  eating  of  the  forbidden  fruit, 


168  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

they  transmitted  to  all  their  posterity  (over  and  above  the 
proneness  to  sin  which  we  are  born  with,  and  our  liability  to  nat- 
ural death)  the  guilt  also  of  the  actual  transgression  committed 
by  Adam ;  this  being  imputed  to  every  one  of  his  posterity. 
For  he,  it  is  said,  being  the  federal  head  or  representative  of 
the  whole  human  species,  his  act  is  considered  as  theirs,  to  all 
intents  and  purposes  ;  and  each  descendant  of  Adam  is  consid- 
ered by  his  Almighty  Judge  as  actually  guilty,  from  his  birth, 
of  the  very  sin  of  having  eaten  of  the  forbidden  fruit ;  and  is, 
for  that  sin,  sentenced  not  merely  to  undergo  natural  death,  but 
also  everlasting  punishment  in  the  next  world,  independently 
of  any  sins  committed  by  himself. 

This  is  not,  indeed,  always  the  sense  in  which  the  imputation 
of  Adam's  sin  to  his  posterity,  and  their  consequent  punish- 
ment, are  spoken  of.  There  are  some  who  understand  by  the 
expression,  merely  the  forfeiture  of  immortality,  —  the  liability 
to  temporal  death  ;  though  it  is  perhaps  rather  an  incorrect 
use  of  language  to  apply  the  term  punishment  to  the  absence 
of  that  immortality  which  was  never  ours.  The  human  race, 
indeed,  taken  collectively,  so  as  to  include  our  first  parents, 
may  be  said  to  have  lost  immortal  life ;  but  each  individual  of 
their  posterity,  being  bom  mortal,  cannot,  without  great  laxity 
of  language,  be  said  to  be  punished  by  being  excluded  from 
immortality.^ 

The  doctrine,  however,  in  the  sense  before  stated,  has  been 

not  merely  innocent,  but  pure,  holy,  upright,  and  altogether  virtuously  disposed ; 
and  as  being,  in  that  sense,  *'  very  good."  An  author  of  very  high  and  well- 
deserved  celebrity,  has  used  the  expression  (doubtless  inadvertently)  that  "  Adam 
in  Paradise  was  perfect ;  forgetting  that  to  speak  of  a  being  becoming  prone  to 
sin,  ly  the  actual  commission  of  sin,  is  no  less  self-contradictory  than  to  speak  of 
him  as  self-created.  One  cannot  wonder  that  incautious  expressions  like  this 
should  provoke  the  scoffs  of  the  infidel,  and  should  lead  some  of  the  weak  and 
unthinking  to  reject  our  religion  altogether,  from  believing  it  contains  manifest 
absurdities. 
1  See  a  little  Latin  treatise  entitled  Tractatus  tres.,  etc. 


OIT  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  169 

often  expressly  maintained,  and  much  oftencr  indirectly  im- 
plied and  assumed,  as  indubitable. 

Then,  to  relieve  mankind  from  this  sentence,  and  to  procure 
for  them  immortal  happiness  in  heaven,  our  Saviour  Christ,  it 
is  said,  not  only  in  his  death  offered  up  an  effectual  sacrifice 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  —  bearing  in  his  own  person 
the  punishment  due  to  the  imputed  transgression  of  Adam,  and 
to  the  actual  sins  of  men,  —  but  also,  during  his  abode  on  earth, 
performed  for  them  those  good  works  of  perfect  obedience  to 
the  law  —  ceremonial,  civil,  and  moral  —  which  are  imputed 
to  true  believers  in  him,  and  considered  as  theirs ;  even  as  the 
transgression  of  Adam  is  imputed  to  all  his  natural  descend- 
ants. Thus,  and  thus  only,  it  is  said,  could  the  evil  introduced 
by  Adam's  transgression  be  (as  far  as  respects  the  adoptive 
children  of  God)  effectually  repaired.  For  as  Adam  was  the 
representative  of  the  whole  human  race,  so  that  his  sin  is,  by 
imputation,  made  theirs,  and  they,  all  and  each,  thus  lay  under 
the  sentence  of  eternal  punishment,  so  it  was  necessary  that 
the  obedience  and  personal  holiness  of  Christ,  who  stands  as 
the  representative  of  his  faithful  servants,  should  be  in  like 
manner  imputed  to  them,  and  thus  give  them  a  title  to  eternal 
happiness,  —  that  he  should,  in  short,  not  only  by  his  death 
undergo  the  punishment  due  to  man  from  God,  but  also,  in  his 
life,  fulfil  the  righteousness  due  to  God  from  man  ;  in  each 
instance  suffering  and  performing  what  he  did,  vicariously, 
for,  and  in  the  stead  of,  his  people ;  who  are  thence  regarded 
as  having  themselves  both  paid  the  penalty  of  sin,  and  also 
performed  perfect  obedience  to  the  divine  laws,  both  having 
been  accomplished  by  their  substitute  and  representative. 
And  some  there  are  who  go  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  as  God 
imputes  to  believers  the  good  works  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  trans- 
fers to  them  the  merit  of  his  obedient  life,  so  he  also  imputed 

to  Jesus,  at  the  time  of  his  crucifixion,  the  actual  guilt  of  those 
15 


170  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

sins  for  whicli  he  suffered,  and  regarded  him,  for  the  time  be- 
ing, as  the  actual  transgressor  ;  "  bearing  our  sins  "  not  only 
in  respect  of  the  penalty  of  them,  but  of  their  intrinsic  guilt, 
and  the  divine  wrath^  against  it.  This,  however,  is  not,  I  be- 
lieve, held  by  all  who  maintain  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin 
and  of  Christ's  obedience. 

Some  other  slighter  variations  of  statement  are  to  be  found, 
as  might  be  expected,  in  the  works  of  different  authors ;  but 
such,  in  the  main,  as  I  have  described,  is  the  system  taught, 
not  in  abstruse  theological  disquisitions  merely,  but  in  several 
popular  treatises  and  sermons  ;  and  taught  as  the  very  founda- 
tion of  Christian  faith  —  of  which,  indeed,  it  must,  if  true,  form 
no  insignificant  part.^ 

And  it  is  taught  by  some  who  admit  that  it  is  not  expressly 
stated  in  Scripture,  but  is  to  be  deduced  (by  a  certain  process 
of  "  development ")  from  a  scheme  of  doctrine  of  which  it 
forms  a  necessary  part,  and  which  does,  in  their  view,  form 
an  essential  portion  of  the  gospel  revelation. 

That  it  is  paradoxical,  —  remote  from  all  we  should  natu- 
rally have  expected,  —  and  startling  to  our  untutored  feelings, 
cannot  be  questioned.  This  is,  however,  no  reason  why  it  may 
not  be  true  ;  or  why,  if  true,  we  should  shrink  from  receiving 
it ;  since  God's  "  ways  are  not  as  our  ways," —  and  since,  inca- 
pable as  we  are  of  estimating  his  counsels,  it  is  for  us,  not  to 
question,  but  to  receive  whatever  he  may  have  proposed  to  us. 
It  is  a  reason,  however,  why  we  should  inquire  for,  and  expect, 
the  more  full  and  precise  revelation  on  such  a  point.  What  is 
readily  discoverable  by  unassisted  human  reason,  we  must  not 
expect  to  find  revealed  at  all  in  Scripture.     Such  things,  again, 

1  There  are  many  writers  who  never  think  of  reminding  their  readers,  and, 
indeed,  appear  to  have  themselves  gradually  learnt  to  forget,  that  wrath  is  attrib- 
uted to  the  Deity  only  in  a  figurative,  not  a  literal  sense.  —  See  Archbishop 
King's  Discourse  on  Predestination. 

2  This  theory  maybe  classed,!  think,  under  the  head  of  Bacon's  Idola  Theatri. 


ON  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  171 

as,  tliougli  not  discoverable  by  reason,  are  yet  comformable  to 
its  suggestions,  and  contain  no  mysterious  difficulty,  —  of  these 
we  may  receive  satisfactory  assurance  even  in  a  single  passage, 
or  in  a  few  short  hints.  But  any  doctrine  which,  like  that 
now  in  question,  is  wholly  at  variance  with  every  notion  we 
should  naturally  be  led  to  form,  we  may  be  sure  will  be  revealed, 
if  revealed  at  all,  in  the  fullest  and  most  decisive  language. 

The  doctrine,  too,  which  I  have  been  considering,  must,  if 
it  belong  to  the  gospel  scheme,  be  as  important  as  it  is  myste- 
rious, —  it  must  be  the  very  key,  as  it  were,  to  eternal  happi- 
ness ;  since,  according  to  this  view,  it  is  only  through  the 
obedience  of  Christ,  imputed  to  us,  that  we  can  have  any 
claim  or  hope  to  be  admitted  to  the  glories  of  his  heavenly 
kingdom. 

Some  there  are,  indeed,  who,  though  they  hold  the  doctrines 
in  question,  yet  do  not  hold  the  reception  of  them  to  be  alto- 
gether essential  to  salvation.  But  unless  they  give  some  ex- 
planation of  this  charitable  belief,  they  will  be  likely  to  lead 
others  to  follow  out  their  principles  to  a  more  consistent  con- 
clusion. For  if  it  be  a  truth  plainly  revealed  in  Scripture  that 
the  actual  guilt  of  the  act  of  our  first  parents  is  imputed  to  us, 
and  regarded  by  the  Most  High  as  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
our  act,  it  seems  inevitably  to  follow  that  we  are  bound  to  feel 
penitent  for  the  sin  of  Adam,  or  else  must  stand  convicted  of 
impenitence.  We  are  told  that  "  if  we  confess  our  sins,  God 
is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins."  Now  it  seems 
impossible,  supposing  the  theory  in  question  to  be  true,  that 
a  man  can  comply  with  this  precept  who  does  not  confess 
what  must  be,  on  that  supposition,  one  of  the  greatest  sins,  — 
which  God  imputes  to  him  as  his,  —  and  who  does  not  believe 
in  any  such  imputation.  And  if  believers  can  be  saved  only 
through  the  imputation  to  them,  as  performed  by  themselves, 
of  the  good  works  performed  by  Christ,  and  if  this  is  as  clearly 


172  -WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

revealed  as  it  is  that  he  died  for  us,  and  that  we  are  to  trust 
in  his  redemption,  then,  surely,  faith  in  each  of  these  doctrines 
alike  must  be  equally  essential. 

§  II.  It  is  not  once  or  twice,  therefore,  —  it  is  not  obscurely 
or  obliquely,  —  that  we  mi<]!;ht   expect   to   find 

Scripture  author-  ^        ./ '  o  i 

ity  on  which  it  is     Paul  spcakiug  to  liis  couvcrts  of  this  imputed 

made  to  rest.  .  ,    . 

sm  and  imputed  obedience.  As  the  foundation 
of  salutary  dread,  and  of  consolatory  hope,  —  as  connected 
most  intimately  with  every  question  relative  to  the  punish- 
ments and  rewards  of  the  next  world,  —  we  might  expect  him 
to  make  the  most  explicit  declarations  respecting  a  point  of 
such  moment,  —  to  dwell  on  it  copiously  and  earnestly,  —  to 
recur  to  it  in  almost  every  page. 

Now,  when  we  proceed  to  the  actual  examination  of  Scrip- 
ture, do  we  find  these  most  reasonable  expectations  confirmed  ? 
Far  otherwise.  It  is  not,  perhaps,  going  too  far,  to  say  that  the 
whole  system  is  made  to  rest  on  a  particular  interpretation  of 
one  single  text  (Rom.  v.  19),  — "  As  by  one  man's  disobedience 
many^  were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall 
many^  be  made  righteous."  For  though  there  are  other  passa- 
ges which  have  been  considered  as  alluding  to  and  confirming 
the  tenet  in  question,  there  is  none  that  could,  without  mani- 
fest violence,  be  construed  into  an  express  declaration  of  it.^ 

The  passage  in  question  is  one  which  we  cannot  reasonably 

Inter  retati        ^^V^  to  interpret  aright,  if  we  contemplate  it  as 

of  the  passage  ap-     au  iusulatcd  propositiou,  —  if  we  do  not  take 

pealed  to.  .  ,  ,  -     ,  , 

into  account  the  general  tenor  oi  the  apostle  s 
teaching.  Now  it  is  most  important  to  observe  that,  frequent 
as  are  his  allusions,  as  might  be  expected,  to  the  Christian's 

1  oi  TToWol,  the  many;  that  is,  the  whole  mass  of  mankind. 

2  One  may  often  be  reminded  of  the  satirical  epigram  inscribed  la  a  Bible: 

"  Hie  liber  est  in  quo  quaerit  sua  dogmata  quisque : 
Invenit  et  pariter  dogmata  quisque  sua." 


ON  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  173 

redemption,  and  acceptableness  to  God,  through  Christ,  the 
reference  is  made,  throughout,  to  his  death,  —  to  his  cross,  —  to 
his  hlood,  —  to  his  sufferings,  —  to  his  sacrifice  of  himself,  as 
the  meritorious  cause  of  our  salvation ;  not  to  the  righteous- 
ness of  his  life  imputed  to  believers,  —  the  transfer  of  the  merit 
of  his  good  works.  For  instance,  "  He  hath  reconciled  us  to 
God,  in  the  body  of  his  flesh,  through  death,"  —  "  Being  justi- 
fied freely  by  his  grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in 
Christ  Jesus,  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation, 
through  faith  in  his  hlood,^^  —  "  He  hath  brought  us  nigh  to  God, 
and  made  him  at  peace  with  us,  through  the  hlood  of  the  cross," 
—  "  AVe  are  sanctified  through  the  offering  of  the  hody  of  Jesus 
Christ  once  for  all," —  besides  numerous  other  passages  to  the 
same  purpose. 

Frequent,  again,  as  are  the  allusions  to  the  pure  and  perfect 
holiness  of  our  Saviour's  life,  we  nowhere  find  this  spoken  of  as 
imputed  to  Chi-istians,  and  made  theirs  by  transfer  of  merit ;  but, 
always,  as  qualifying  him  to  be,  on  the  one  hand,  an  example 
to  Christians,  and,  on  the  other,  both  the  victim  and  the  priest  of 
spotless  purity,  —  as  constituting  him  the  true  lamb  without 
blemish, —  "the  iimocent  blood,"  which  "  taketh  away  the 
sin  of  the  world,"  —  because  he  who  offered  it  had  no  need 
of  atonement  for  himself.  For  instance,  "How  much  more 
shall  the  blood  of  Christ,  who,  through  the  Eternal  Spirit,  of- 
fered himself  without  spot  to  God,  purge  your  conscience  from 
dead  works  to  serve  the  living  God  ?  "  —  "  Such  an  high  priest 
became  us,  who  is  holy,  harmless,  un defiled,  separate  from  sin- 
ners." In  these,  and  many  other  such  passages,  in  which  the 
personal  holiness  of  Christ  is  spoken  of,  and  spoken  of  too  in 
reference  to  our  salvation,  it  is  not  said  that  the  obedience  of 
Christ  is  imputed  to  us,  and  the  merit  of  his  good  works  trans- 
ferred to  us  (Avhich  we  might  surely  have  expected  to  find  there 
mentioned  had  it  been  designed  to  teach  such  a  doctrine)  ; 
15* 


174  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

but,  on  tlie  contrary,  it  seems  rather  to  be  implied  that  his 
obedience  was  imputed  to  himself  as  necessary  to  qualify  him 
for  the  great  sacrifice  of  atonement. 

And  the  language  of  Scripture  on  this  point  coincides  with 
the  most  sound  moral  judgment ;  which  indicates  that  nothing 
short  of  a  life  of  unsinning  virtue  could  have  made  him  liim- 
self  acceptable,  and  fit  for  his  great  office,  — that,  in  short,  it 
behooved  liim  "  to  fulfil  all  righteousness,"  in  order  that  he  might 
be  a  spotless  victim,  and  an  undefiled  priest,  —  that  in  suffering^ 
indeed,  an  accursed  death,  he  did  more  than  could  be  required 
of  an  innocent  person  on  his  own  account  —  and  that,  therefore, 
he  died,  "  the  just  for  the  unjust ; "  but  that  this  being  just  —  the 
perfect  obedience  of  his  life  —  could  not  be  more  than  requi- 
site to  constitute  him  perfect  as  a  man.  I  speak,  of  course,  of 
his  obedient  life  in  reference  to  his  human  nature  alone ;  in 
respect  of  which  he  always  declared,  "  My  Father  is  greater 
than  I.'*  To  speak  of  his  obedience,  considering  him  as  a  divine 
person,  would  be  at  least  approaching  very  near  to  the  Arian 
doctrine ;  ^  since  all  obedience  necessarily  implies  a  superior. 

Surely,  then,  when  we  read  that  "  by  the  obedience  of  [the] 
one,  many  [the  many]  shall  be  made  [or  constituted,  Kara- 
o-ra^TJo-oi/rat]  righteous,"  the  presumption  is  strongly  in  favor 
of  such  an  interpretation  as  shall  accord  with  the  declaration 
that  we  are  "justified  by  his  blood.''  Now  such  an  interpreta- 
tion is  not  only  allowable,  but  is  even,  I  may  say,  suggested  by 
the  apostle  himself  in  another  passage  ;  in  which,  speaking  of 
Clirist's  death,  he  uses  the  very  corresponding  word  to  vTraKorj 

1  There  is,  I  fear,  in  many  Christians,  a  strong  habitual  leaning  of  the  mind  to 
this  view  of  the  Scripture  doctrines ;  though  they  are  unconscious  of  it,  from 
their  having/orma%  condemned  Arianism,  and  distinctly  asserted  the  equality 
of  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit  with  the  Father;  forgetting  that  this  is  no  secu- 
rity against  a  tinge  being  given  to  their  ordinary  course  of  thought  on  the  sub- 
ject, —  a  tendency  x>ractically  to  contemplate  three  distinct  divine  beings,  the 
second  inferior  to  the  first,  and  the  third  to  both.  —  See  Note  A,  at  the  end  of 
this  Essay. 


ON  DIPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  175 

"  obedience,"  in  this  place  :  Christ,  he  says,  "  became  obedient 
[yirqKoo^'\  to  death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross."  And  again 
(Heb.  V.  8),  "though  he  were  a  Son,  yet  learned  he  obedi- 
ence by  the  things  which  he  suffered  ;  and  being  made  perfect, 
he  became  the  author  of  eternal  salvation  to  all  them  that 
obey  him."  His  death,  indeed,  is  more  than  once  referred  to 
in  this  point  of  view ;  namely,  as  a  part,  and  as  the  great 
and  consummating  act,  of  that  submissive  and  entire  obedience 
which  he  rendered  throughout  to  his  Father's  will.  For  in- 
stance, in  our  Lord's  own  words  just  before  he  suffered,  "  Not 
my  will,  but  thine  be  done  "  — "  Lo,  I  come  to  do  thy  will, 
O  God,"  —  "  When  he  suffered  he  threatened  not,  but  commit- 
ted himself  to  him  that  judgeth  righteously." 

Then,  with  respect  to  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  to  his 
descendants,  it  might,  as  I  have  said,  be  expected  that,  if  true, 
it  would  be  frequently  and  fully  set  forth.  But  at  any  rate  it 
could  hardly  fail  to  be  mentioned  on  those  occasions  where  the 
apostle  is  occupied  in  proving  and  insisting  on  the  universal 
necessity  of  a  Redeemer,  and  the  inevitable  ruin  of  mankind 
without  an  atoning  sacrifice.  Now  this  plainly  is  his  object  in 
the  opening  of  this  very  epistle  (to  the  Romans),  which  is  gen- 
erally regarded  as  the  most  systematic  of  all  that  he  wrote. 
What,  then,  is  Paul's  procedure  ?  He  dwells  at  large  on  the 
actual  sins  of  men,  —  he  gives  a  copious  and  shocking  detail  of 
the  enormities  of  the  Gentile  world,  into  which  they  had 
plunged  in  defiance  of  their  own  natural  conscience,  —  and  then 
expatiates  on  the  sins  of  which  the  Jews  had  been  guilty,  in 
violation  of  the  law  in  which  they  trusted.  How  needless 
would  all  this  have  been  for  one  who  maintained  the  doctrine 
of  imputed  sin  !  No  one,  indeed,  denies  that  men  do  commit 
a.^tual  shi;  but  the  hypothesis  I  have  been  speaking  of  would 
have  cut  the  argument  short.  On  that  supposition  it  would 
have  been  sufficient  to  say,  at  once,  that  Adam's  transgression, 


176  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

being  imputed  to  all  his  posterity,  so  that  they  are  all  regarded 
as  guilty  of  his  act,  they  must  be,  in  consequence,  —  whether 
sinful  or  innocent,  whether  more  or  less  sinful,  in  their  own 
persons,  —  doomed  to  eternal  perdition,  unless  redeemed  from 
this  imputed  guilt.  Nor  does  the  passage  I  have  appealed 
to  stand  alone  in  this  respect.  Numerous  as  are  the  denun- 
ciations of  divine  judgment  against  sin,  all  concur  in  making 
the  reference,  not  to  the  imputed  sin  of  our  first  parents,  but 
to  the  actual  sins  of  men  :  none  of  them  warrants  the  conclu- 
sion that  any  one  is  liable  to  punishment  (I  mean  in  the  next 
world)  for  any  one's  sins  but  his  own.^ 

§  III.  It  should  be  observed,  also,  that  there  is  an  especial 
reason  for  interpreting  that  part  of  the  epistle  I 
„p:r!nth;pl;!  have  been  alluding  to^  by  reference  to  other 
r/therubrectr''*  P^^^^  ^^  scripture;  which  is,  that  it  is  not  the 
apostle's  object,  in  this  place,  to  declare  or  es- 
tablish the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  and  of  our  deliverance 
from  its  consequences  by  Christ  our  Saviour.  It  is  plain 
from  the  context  that  these  points  are  established  only  inci- 
dentally ;  the  main  drift  of  his  argument  being  to  set  forth 
the  universality  of  the  redemption,  —  as  being  coextensive 
with  the  evil  introduced  at  the  fall  which  it  was  designed  to 
remedy.  The  Jewish  converts,  to  whom  he  seems  principally 
addressing  himself,  were  disposed  by  their  ancient  national 
prejudices  to  limit  the  benefits  of  the  Messiah's  advent  to  their 
own  people.  The  great  and  revolting  mystery  to  them,  was, 
"  that  the  Gentiles  should  be  fellow-heirs  ; "  in  opposition 
to  which  exclusive  spirit  he  infers  the  universal  redemption 


1 1  have  treated  more  at  large  on  this  point  in  Essay  I.  (Fourth  Series).  See 
Note  B,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay,  in  which  I  have  extracted  a  passage  from  Arch- 
bishop Sumner's  Apostolical  Preaching. 

2  Rom.  V.  19. 


ON  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  177 

accomplished  by  Christ  from  the  universality  of  that  loss  and 
corruption  which  he  undertook  to  repair,  —  "  as  in  Adam  all^ie, 
even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive," — "  as  by  one  man's 
disobedience  many  [the  many ;  that  is,  all  the  rest]  were  made 
[or  constituted,  Karecra^iyo-av,]  sinners,  even  so  by  the  obedi- 
ence of  the  one  shall  the  many"  (that  is,  not  the  Jews  only, 
but  the  whole  race  of  mankind,  as  many  as  believe)  "  be  made 
righteous." 

Now,  there  is  no  doubt  that  such  an  oblique  allusion  to  any 
doctrine  does  not  only  establish  it,  but  establish  it  even  more 
decidedly  than  an  express  assertion  ;  since  it  implies  that  it  is 
a  known  and  undisputed  truth.  But  still  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two  cases  is  not  the  less  important.  We  are  not  to 
look  for  the  same  full  and  clear  exposition  of  any  point  of  faith 
in  those  passages  where  it  is  merely  alluded  to  incidentally,  as 
in  those  wherein  the  object  is  to  declare  and  explain  it.  And 
some  passage,  in  which  it  is  the  direct  object  to  reveal  and  in- 
culcate the  doctrine  now  in  question,  would  doubtless  have  been 
appealed  to  by  its  advocates  had  any  such  passage  existed.  But 
fundamentally  important  as  this  truth  must  be,  if  it  be  a  truth, 
no  portion  of  Scripture  can  be  found  that  can  even  be  repre- 
sented as  having  for  its  immediate  and  primary  design  to  de- 
clare it.  The  sinfulness  of  human  nature  is  indeed  abundantly 
set  forth ;  but  not  the  imputation  to  one  man  of  the  actual  trans- 
gression committed  by  another :  our  salvation  through  Christ 
is  earnestly  dwelt  on ;  but  it  is  "  through  faith  in  his  blood." 
Nay,  there  is  mention  made  of  imputation  and  nonimputation ; 
but  not  of  one  man's  act  or  desert  to  another.  God  is  spoken 
of  as  "  not  imputing  to  men  their  trespasses,"  —  which,  by  the 
way,  would  amount  to  nothing,  if  he  still  imputed  to  them  the 
trespasses  of  another,  —  and  we  are  told  that  "  faith  "  (our 
own)  "  shall  be  imputed  to  us  for  righteousness." 

And  this  should  teach  us  how  to  interpret  the  passages  in 


178  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

which  we  are  said  to  be  made  "  the  righteousness  of  God  in 
Christ,"  and  he  to  be  "  made  sin  for  us ;  "  namely,  not  that  he 
was  considered  in  the  sight  of  God  as  actually  sinful,  but  that 
he  was  made  a  "  sin-offering  for  us ;  "  the  word  d/xapria,  which 
is  literally  "  sin,"  being  commonly  used  by  the  Septuagint 
translators  in  the  sense  of  a  sin-offering.  And,  again,  when 
we  are  said  to  be  made  righteous  through  his  "  obedience  unto 
death,"  and  to  be  '•  made  the  righteousness  of  God  in  him ;  " 
and  he,  again,  is  said  to  be  "  made  of  God  unto  us  wisdom,  and 
righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption,"  it  is  not 
meant  that  there  is  an  imputation  to  believers  of  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ's  life,  as  if  it  were  theirs,  any  more  than 
that  the  ivisdom  of  Christ  is  imputed  to  them,  or  the  redemp- 
tion which  he  effected  is  regarded  as  effected  by  them ;  but 
that  he  purchased  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself  all  these  benefits 
for  men  ;  for  those,  that  is,  who  should  by  faith  be  admitted  to 
be  partakers  of  them,  —  that  when  he  had  been  "  delivered 
for  our  sins,"  he  "  rose  again  for  our  justification ; "  that  is, 
"ascended  up  on  high,  and  received  gifts  for  men,  that  the 
Lord  God  might  dwell  among  them  ; "  namely,  that  his  Holy 
Spirit,  whose  temple  we  are,  might  reside  in  and  sanctify  our 
hearts,  and  impart  to  us  wisdom  and  righteousness,  to  be  prac- 
tically displayed  in  our  lives.^ 

And  since  without  this  holy  guidance  our  own  feeble  and 
depraved  nature  could  never  bring  forth  what  the  apostle  calls 
"  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,"  nor  follow  the  steps  of  Christ,  this 
may  well  be  called  the  "  righteousness  of  Christ,"  or  the 
"  righteousness  of  God  in  Christ."  For  "  if  any  man  have  not 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his,"  —  "  if  any  man  keep 
my  saying,  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto 
him,  and  make  our  abode  in  him."  "  Little  children,"  says  the 
Apostle  John,  "  let  no  man  deceive  you :  he  that  doeih  righteous- 

1  See  Whltb7  on  this  subject. 


ON  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  I'O 

ness  is  righteous,  even  as  he  is  righteous."  "  They  that  are 
Christ's,"  says  Paul,  "  have  crucified  the  flesh,  witli  the  affec- 
tions and  lusts,"  —  "  if  we  live  in  the  Spirit,^  let  us  also  walk 
in  the  Spirit,"  — "  if  ye,  through  the  Spirit,  do  mortify  the 
deeds  of  the  flesh,  ye  shall  live ;  for,  as  many  as  are  led  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God." 

And  indeed  our  Lord's  own  parable  of  the  marriage-feast, 
in  which  the  guest  is  rejected  who  had  failed  to  put  on  the 
wedding-garment,"  might  seem  sufficient  alone  to  remove  all 
doubts  on  the  present  subject.  No  one  can  doubt  that  the 
"  righteousness  of  Christ "  is  here  represented  by  the  garment, 
which  (according  to  Oriental  custom)  was  freely  provided  by 
the  giver  of  the  feast.  It  would  be  absurd  for  a  guest,  under 
these  circumstances,  to  boast  of  the  richness  of  his  apparel ; 
but,  though  properly  belonging  to  the  bountiful  master  of  the 
house,  the  guest  was  required  himself  to  wear  it.  The 
purity  and  splendor  of  the  robe  worn  by  the  master  himself 
could  not  be  transferred,  by  imputation,  to  a  guest  who  should 
neglect  to  put  on  that  which  was  provided  for  him.  The 
accepted  guest  must  be  himself  "  clothed  with  righteousness," 
though  it  is  still  "  the  righteousness  of  Christ."  ^ 

Again,  when  our  Lord  compares  himself  to  a  vine,  he  nat- 
urally leads  us  to  understand  that,  as  the  fruit  horrie  hy  the 
branches  is  called  the  fruit  of  the  vine,  because  the  branch 
"  cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself,"  so  the  righteousness  practised 
by  his  disciples  is  to  be  reckoned  his  righteousness,  since  they 
must  "  abide  in  him ;  "  being  not  only  instructed  by  him,  and 
imitators  of  his  example,  but  also  guided  and  aided  by  his 
Spirit.     He  teaches  them  the  way,  and  shoivs  them  the  way, 

1  "  Bi/  the  Spirit "  would  be  the  more  correct  rendering.  As  the  passage 
stands  in  our  version,  it  sounds  like  a  tautology.  But  the  sense  of  it  plainly  is, 
if  we  have  life  (that  is,  Christian  life)  "  by  the  Spirit,  let  us  act  according  to  his 
guidance." 

2  See  Lectures  on  the  Parables,  L.  III. 


180  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

and  supports  them  in  the  way.  But  neither  here  nor  any- 
where else  do  we  hear  of  any  such  thing  as  imputed  fruitful- 
ness,  —  of  a  branch  being  considered  as  bearing  fruit  which 
is  borne  not  by  it,  but  by  some  other.  He  only  tells  us  that 
the  branches  which  "  hear  fruit "  are  purified  that  they  may 
bear  more  fruit ;  and  that  those  which  hear  not  iruit  are  "  taken 
away." 

§  IV.  From  the  consideration,  then,  of  these  passages  of 
Scripture  which  have  been  adduced,  as  well  as 

Liability  of  men 

to  be  biassed  by  the     of  many  morc  to  the  same  purpose  which  might 

love  of  system.  Tf.i-r 

be  appealed  to  if  needful,  I  cannot  but  conclude 
that  that  system  of  imputed  sin  and  righteousness  which  I 
have  been  considering  is  altogether  fanciful  and  groundless. 
It  has  indeed  at  first  sight  a  sort  of  compactness,  coherency, 
and  consistency  of  parts  which  gives  it,  till  closely  scrutinized, 
an  air  of  plausibility  ;  but  this  very  circumstance  should,  in 
any  case,  put  us  the  more  carefully  on  our  guard  ;  for  there  is 
no  more  common  error  in  many  departments  of  study,  and 
especially  in  theology,  than  the  prevalence  of  a  love  of  system 
over  the  love  of  truth}  Men  are  often  so  much  captivated  by 
the  aspect  of  what  seems  to  them  a  regular,  beautiful,  and 
well-connected  theory,  as  to  adopt  it  hastily,  without  inquiring, 
in  the  outset,  how  far  it  is  comformable  to  facts,  or  to  scrip- 
tural authority ;  and  thus,  often  on  one  or  two  passages  of 
Scripture,  have  built  up  an  ingenious  and  consistent  scheme, 
of  which  the  far  greater  part  is  a  tissue  of  then*  own  reason- 
ings and  conjectures.^ 

1  Seduced  by  the  Idola  Theatri  of  Bacon.    See  Note  ( ' ),  p.  143. 

2  I  would  not  be  thought  to  appeal  to  our  Articles,  or  to  any  other  human 
work,  as  decisive  on  such  a  point.  But  it  is  worth  considering  by  those  members 
of  our  church  who  regard  this  doctrine  as  the  keystone  of  Christianity,  that  the 
Articles,  though  insisting  on  justification  through  Christ,  make  no  allusion  to 
the  imputation  to  believers,  of  his  good  works.  The  expression  is,  "  propter 
men^UTTi,"  etc. ;  not  merita. 


ON  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  181 

The  whole  subject,  indeed,  of  justification  has  been  involved 
in  great,  and,  I  cannot  but  think,  needless  per- 
plexity,  by  the   practice   formerly   alluded   to     technicarumTorm*^ 
(Essay  III.)  of  first  afiixing  (which  may  be  al-     Z^!::^:::^, 
lowable)  ^  a  strict  technical  sense  to  each  of  the     '«''"''^"  «f "'« '^''^^ 

'  justification. 

principal  words  that  have  been  employed  in 
Scripture,  and  then  (which  is  not  allowable)  interpreting  the 
word,  whenever  it  is  found  in  the  sacred  writers  themselves, 
according  to  such  precise  definition,  instead  of  regarding  their 
works  as  popular,  not  scientific,  and  seeking  for  the  meaning 
of  their  expressions,  in  each  case,  from  the  context. 

Thus,  in  the  present  instance,  if  three  or  four,  perhaps,  of 
those  who  are  accounted  sound  divines,  should  be  consulted  as 
to  the  doctrine  of  justification,  it  is  not  unlikely  they  would 
give  as  many  different  accounts  of  it.  All  would  agree  as  to  the 
importance  of  the  doctrine  ;  but  some  would  perhaps  lay  down 
two  justifications,  others  only  one  ;  and  among  these  there  would 
be  found  great  discrepancies  :  and  yet  all,  probably,  would  be 
found,  in  their  general  views  of  the  Christian  scheme,  to  ar- 
rive at  nearly  the  same  practical  results.  It  is  hardly  to  be 
supposed,  indeed,  that  there  can  be  so  much  difficulty  (to  the 
unlearned,  impossibility)  as  this  discrepancy  would  seem  to 

It  is  worth  observing,  also,  that  the  framers  of  our  Liturgy  make  no  allusion  to 
imputed  righteousness,  in  passages  where  it  seems  incredible  they  should  have 
omitted  it,  had  they  held  and  designed  to  teach  that  doctrine.  For  instance,  in 
the  prayer  before  the  consecration  of  the  bread  and  wine,  we  find,  "  We  do  not 
presume  to  come  to  this  thy  table,  O  merciful  Lord,  trusting  in  our  own  right- 
eousness; "  and  then,  instead  of  adding  '•  but  in  the  imputed  righteousness  of  our 
Saviour,"  it  proceeds,  "  but  in  thy  manifold  and  great  mercies." 

1  Perhaps,  however,  it  would  have  been  better  if,  from  the  very  first,  no 
Scriptural  terms  had  been  introduced  into  systems  of  theology.  Some  have 
objected  to  the  word  "  Trinity,"  and  a  few  others,  on  the  ground  that  they  are 
not  found  in  Scripture.  This  appears  to  me  their  chief  recommendation; 
since,  in  this  case,  all  danger  is  effectually  avoided  of  misinterpreting  Scripture 
in  the  way  I  am  describing.  As  it  is,  one  of  our  best  safeguards  against  this 
danger,  would  be  to  vary  from  time  to  time  the  language  of  our  expositions  of 
Scripture  doctrines. 

16 


182  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

imply,  in  ascertaining  from  Scripture  "  what  we  must  do  to 
be  saved."  And  is  there  not,  therefore,  ground  to  suspect  that 
many  divines  have  been  unconsciously  involved  in  embarrass- 
ing disputes  about  words,  from  expecting  in  the  sacred  writers 
a  more  scientific  accuracy  and  uniformity  of  language  than 
they  ever  aimed  at  ?  ^ 

When  one  of  the  apostles  speaks  to  men  of  the  condemna- 
tion for  sin,  from  which  they  were  to  seek  a  way  to  escape,  he 
naturally  uses  the  BtKaioi^rjvaL,^  to  be  "justified,"  in  the  sense  of 
acquittal,  —  their  "  not  having  their  trespasses  imputed  to 
them  "  (Acts  xiii.  38,  39  ;  Rom.  iii.  25  ;  Rom.  v.  9).  When, 
again,  he  alludes  to  the  defilement  of  sin,  analogous  to  the  cer- 
emonial impurities  which,  under  the  Levitical  law,  excluded 
men  from  partaking  of  its  sacred  ordinances,  he  as  naturally 
uses  "justified"  to  signify  their  being  accounted  clean,  —  re- 
garded as  God's  holy  people,  and  admitted  without  profanation 
to  approach  him,  in  the  spiritual  service  of  the  new  covenant 
(Rom.  V.  1,  2).  When,  again,  the  Jews  prided  themselves  on 
their  law,  as  their  guide  to  a  moral  and  religious  life,  and  as 
"justifying," —  that  is,  making  men  good,  and  fit  to  obtain  heav- 
enly rewards,  —  he  sets  forth  the  vainness  of  that  expectation ; 
since,  even  if  the  law  had  had  the  "  better  hope  "  of  the  gos- 


1  See  Hampden's  Barapton  Lectures,  Lect.  I. 

2  See  A.  Knox's  Kemains  (Vol.  I.  p.  276),. where  he  points  out  that  the  use  of 
the  word  SiKaioaruyr]  by  the  apostle  (denoting,  like  the  other  words  in  (rvvn,& 
moral  habit),  instead  of  SiKaiwcris,  in  those  passages  where  he  is,  by  some,  under- 
stood to  be  speaking  of  another's  righteousness  imputed  to  us,  plainly  indicates 
that  this  was  not  his  meaning.  The  presumption,  at  least,  is  in  favor  of  that  sense 
of  the  word  SiKaioavvT),  which  is  undoubtedly  its  original  and  strict  sense;  and 
if  not  invariably,  at  least  generally,  the  word  is  employed  by  the  apostle  so  as  to 
make  the  most  obvious  and  natural  interpretation. 

The  coincidence  in  this  point  between  Mr.  Knox  and  myself,  has  led  some  to 
imagine  that  my  notions  must  have  been,  directly  or  indirectly,  derived  from 
him.  But  this  Essay  was  published  some  years  before  I  even  knew  of  the  existence 
of  him  or  any  of  his  friends.  My  views  were  no  more  borrowed  from  him  than 
his  from  me ;  but  both  from  a  common  source. 


ON  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  183 

pel,  —  the  sanction  of  eternal  rewards,  —  still,  it  could  not 
justify  those  who  had  not  strictly  obeyed  all  its  precepts; 
which  man,  left  to  his  natural  strength,  had  never  fully  accom- 
plished (Rom.  ii.  25,  and  vii.  22,  23)  :  insisting  that  we  are  to 
be  justified,  that  is,  made  good  men,  through  faith  in  Christ, 
which  admits  us  to  a  participation  of  his  Spirit  (Rom.  v.  12), 
even  the  Spirit  which  "  helpeth  our  infirmities "  (Rom.  viii. 
26),  and  "worketh  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good 
pleasure."  Hence  he  speaks  of  Christ  as  being  "delivered 
for  our  sins,  and  rising  again  for  our  justification  "  (Rom.  iv. 
25,  and  vi.  4)  ;  that  is,  that  when  he  "  ascended  up  on  high,  he 
received  gifts  for  men,"  namely,  "  that  the  Lord  God  might 
divell  among  them."  Hence  also  he  occasionally  speaks  of  the 
"  law  of  faith  ; "  and  universally  contrasts,  not  (as  many  are 
apt  to  suppose)  good  works  with  faith,  but  faith  with  the  Mosaic 
law,  as  leading  more  effectually  to  good  works  (Rom.  viii.  4, 
11,  12,  13,  and  Tit.  iii.  5,  and  1  Cor.  vi.  11),  by  obtaining  for 
us  the  aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  which  they  are  the  fruits. 
The  chief  cause  indeed  of  this  apostle's  giving  so  prominent  a 
place  to  ^e  word  "justification,"  may  be  found  in  the  peculiar 
circumstances  under  which  he  preached,  especially  when  ad- 
dressing the  Jews,  and  those  infected  with  their  prejudices  ; 
who  were  always  hoping  to  be  justified  by  the  law  (imperfectly 
as  they  observed  it) ;  that  is,  made  at  least  sufficiently  right- 
eous to  inherit  the  rewards  of  a  future  life. 

§  V.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  the  system  which  has 
been  treated  of  in  this  Essay  is,  even  if  un- 
sound, not  practically  dangerous,  and,  therefore,  resulting  from  er. 
not  one  which  needs  to  be  refuted.  That  it  has  [^^0? scripture^' 
been  held  by  pious  and  worthy  men,  I  am  well 
aware  ;  nor  would  I  contend  that  it  had  any  necessary  tendency 
to  make  them  otherwise,  and  that  their  notions  on  this  point 


184  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

were  inconsistent  with  their  religious  and  moral  characters. 
But  it  would  be  rash  to  conclude  thence  that  their  error,  if  it 
be  one,  must  be  altogether  harmless.  Nothing  is  harmless 
which  maj  put  a  stumbling-block  in  the  path  of  any  sincere 
Christian,  —  nothing  is  harmless  that  tends  to  give  an  undue 
advantage  to  unbelievers  —  to  disgust  some  with  what  they 
are  told  is  the  orthodox  faith,  and  to  furnish  others  with  objec- 
tions against  it,  by  inserting  doctrines  which  the  Scriptures  do 
not  warrant,  —  nothing  is  harmless  that  leads  to  a  depreciation, 
a  dread,  or  a  neglect  of  the  divine  instructions  of  the  Apostle 
Paul.  And  such  is  most  remarkably  the  case  with  respect  to 
the  system  I  have  now  been  considering.  It  is  a  favorite 
point  of  attack  to  the  infidel  and  the  heretic,  who  pretend, 
and  probably  believe  themselves,  to  have  exposed  to  contempt 
the  great  doctrines  of  the  atonement  and  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
by  exposing  the  chimerical  pretensions  of  doctrines  which  are 
taught  in  conjunction  with  these,  and  represented  as  parts  of 
the  same  system.  And  in  others,  the  too  prevailing  neglect 
of  Paul's  writings,  as  neither  intelligible,  nor  safe,  nor  a  profit- 
able study  to  any  but  theologians  of  the  most  profound  learning 
and  wisdom,  is  fostered,  by  attributing  to  him  doctrines  more 
likely  to  bewilder  and  mislead  than  to  be  applicable  to  any 
practical  benefit. 

The  doctrine  which  has  been  taught,  that  certain  persons  of 
preeminent  virtue,  called,  in  distinction  from  the  rest  of  the 
Christian  world,  saints,  have  performed  good  works  which  not 
only  give  them  a  claim  to  eternal  life,  but  are  more  than  suffi- 
cient, and  that  the  merit  of  these  may  be  transferred  to  other 
men,  who  may  thus  as  it  were  be  virtuous  by  proxy,  —  this  evi- 
dently seems  to  go  on  the  supposition  that  the  works  performed 
are  in  themselves  some  sort  of  advantage  to  the  Most  High 
himself.  For  if  we  regard  all  good  works  as  being  —  which  is 
the  true  view  —  enjoined  for  the  benefit  of  the  doer,  in  order 


ON  mPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  185 

to  make  us  good  men,  then  it  is  inconceivable  that  another 
person's  good  works  can  be  transferred  to  us,  and  considered 
as  ours.  Thus,  when  a  child  is  set  by  his  master  to  write  an 
exercise,  or  to  draw  a  map,  if  he  employs  a  schoolfellow  to  do 
the  task  for  him,  instead  of  being  rewarded  he  is  punished ; 
because  it  was  in  order  to  his  owr,-  improvement,  and  not  for 
the  master's  benefit,  that  the  work  was  to  be  done.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  if  any  one  offers  for  sale  to  a  publisher  a  book 
or  a  map,  it  matters  nothing  to  the  purchaser  whether  it  be 
the  seller's  own  work,  or  that  of  some  friend  who  has  given  it 
to  him.  He  only  looks  to  the  value  of  the  work  itself,  with  a 
view  to  his  own  profit. 

It  seems  plain,  therefore,  that  the  notion  of  one  person's  good 
works  being  transferred  to  another,  and  considered  as  his, 
must  proceed  on  the  supposition  of  some  value  in  the  works 
themselves,  as  if  they  could  be  a  benefit  to  the  Most  High ; 
though  no  one  can  fail  to  perceive  the  absurdity  of  such  a 
notion,  when  plainly  stated. 

And  the  same  reasoning  is  applicable  in  reference  to  the 
doctrine  we  have  now  been  considering. 

But  if  any  one  should  ask,  "  Since  the  Most  High  can  have 
no  need  of  any  one's  services,  or,  again,  of  any  one's  sufferings, 
how  can  it  be  that  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  could 
procure  man's  salvation,  and  that  he  should  have  suffered 
in  our  stead  ? "  —  if  any  one  should  ask  this  question,  you 
should  answer  that  you  do  not  know,  since  it  is  a  point  on 
which  Scripture  give  us  no  explanation ;  and  that  you  cannot 
clear  up  either  that  or  any  other  part  of  the  one  great  mysteri- 
ous difficulty  (of  which  this  is  a  branch),  —  the  existence  of  evil 
in  the  universe.  We  know,  as  a  fact,  from  the  plain  declara- 
tions of  Scripture,  that  "  Christ  died,  the  just  for  the  unjust," 
and  that  "  by  his  stripes  we  are  healed ; "  and  we  must  suppose 
that  if  it  had  been  possible  for  us  to  understand,  and  needful 
IG* 


186  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

for  us  to  know,  the  reasons  why  this  was  necessary,  and  how 
the  death  of  Christ  avails  us,  the  Scriptures  would  have  told 
us.  But  they  do  not.  They  merely  tell  us  the  fact.  And  if, 
again,  Scripture  had  plainly  declared  that  it  is  possible  to  be 
virtuous  by  proxy,  and  that  another  person's  good  works  would 
be  accepted  by  the  Most  High  as  ours,  then  we  should  have 
been  bound  to  believe  this,  though  unable  to  explain  it.  But 
as  it  is,  the  Scriptures  tell  us  no  such  thing.  We  are  left 
on  this  point  to  the  light  of  reason  ;  and  nothing  can  be  more 
contrary  to  reason  than  that  one  man's  virtue  should  be  ac- 
counted another's,  —  that  a  barren  branch  of  the  vine  should 
be  reckoned  fruitful,  on  account  of  the  fruitfulness  of  another 
branch. 

I  would  suggest,  also,  to  those  worthy  and  intelligent  persons 
who  hold  the  doctrine  alluded  to,  to  consider  whether  it  does 
not  tend  rather  to  do  away  with  the  importance  of  Christ's 
atoning  sacrifice.  A  man  who  owes  a  debt,  is  required  either 
to  pay  it  or  else  to  undergo  the  'penalty  (in  the  East,  in  old 
times,  bondage)  of  ?zow-payment ;  but  he  is  not  called  upon  for 
hoth.  If,  when  a  man  who  owed  ten  thousand  talents  was  called 
on  for  payment,  some  friend  discharged  the  debt  for  him  by 
paying  in  his  name,  he  would  of  course  feel  most  grateful  to  that 
friend.  And  so  he  would  to  a  friend  who  should  consent  to 
undergo  in  his  stead  the  penalty  of  bondage  (or  whatever  else 
it  might  be)  for  wow-payment.  But  it  would  be  quite  unne- 
cessary for  any  friend  to  do  hoth  of  these  —  to  -pay  the  debt, 
and  yet,  moreover,  to  submit  also  to  the  penalty  of  wow-payment. 
The  application  to  the  present  case  is  obvious.  If  men  have 
Christ's  righteousness  imputed  to  them,  in  the  sense  of  being 
considered  as  having  themselves  led  that  life  of  holy  obedience 
which  was  led  by  him  in  their  stead,  it  would  seem  to  follow 
that  they  are  not  sinners,  and  can  have  no  need  of  atonement. 
And  those  who  are  very  far  from  meaning  to  adopt  or  to  prop- 


ON  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  187 

agate  such  a  view,  ouglit  to  be  the  more  careful  not  to  teach, 
without  very  clear  and  express  Scripture  warrant,  any  doctrine 
which  naturally  leads  to  such  a  consequence. 

Mysterious,  no  doubt,  it  is,  that  the  sacrifice  of  "  the  inno- 
cent blood  "  should  be  accepted  as  an  atonement  for  sin ;  but 
in  this  case  we  know  that  the  sacrifice  was  voluntary  :  "  I  lay 
down  my  life  ;  no  man  taketh  it  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of 
myself."  Christ,  of  his  own  accord,  offered  his  life  as  "  a  ran- 
som for  many."  But  when  we  are  told  of  eternal  punishment 
denounced  against  men  for  the  actual  sin  of  Adam,  and  this  not 
by  their  own  voluntary  choice,  or  by  any  act  of  their  own,  but 
by  the  absolute  decree  of  the  Almighty  Judge,  our  ideas  of 
the  divine  justice,  whether  drawn  from  reason  or  from  Scrip- 
ture, cannot  but  be  shocked. 

When,  again,  we  find  Christ  spoken  of  as  suffering  for  us 
and  in  our  stead,  so  that  "  by  his  stripes  we  are  healed,"  though 
we  cannot  comprehend,  indeed,  this  act  of  mysterious  mercy, 
we  do  comprehend  that  "  there  is  now,  therefore,  no  condem- 
nation for  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus,"  but  that  his  sufferino- 
in  our  stead  exempts  his  faithful  followers  from  suffering  in 
their  own  persons.  But  when  men  are  told  that  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ's  life  is  imputed  to  believers,  and  considered  as 
their  merit,  they  are  startled  at  the  want  of  correspondence  of 
this  doctrine  with  the  former,  and  its  apparent  inconsistency 
with  the  injunctions  laid  upon  us  to  "bring  forth  the  fruits 
of  the  Spirit "  unto  everlasting  salvation,  because  "  God  work- 
eth  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure,"  while 
we  are  also  told  that  Christ  has  already  fulfilled  all  moral 
obligations  in  our  stead.  The  Antinomian  system  is  unhappily 
the  only  one  which  surmounts  this  incongruity  ;  ^  and  its  advo- 

1  Terhaps,  also,  the  Romish  doctrine  of  purgatm^y  may  be  considered  as  going 
Bome  way  towards  removing  the  incongruity.  "Although,"  a  Komanist  might 
say,  "  Christ  suffered  for  our  redemption,  and  in  our  stead,  still  we  hold,  that, 


188  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

cates  accordingly  have  availed  themselves  of  the  advantage. 
Since,  say  they,  Christ  suffered  for  us,  and  in  our  stead,  so  as 
to  exempt  us  from  suffering  ourselves,  by  parity  of  reasoning 
the  good  works  which  he  performed,  the  personal  holiness 
he  possessed,  being  imputed  to  us  as  performed  for  us  and 
in  our  stead,  must,  in  like  manner,  exempt  us  from  any  such 
performance  of  our  own.^ 

I  do  not,  however,  mean  to  contend  that  the  generality  of 
those  who  maintain  the  system  in  question  are  tainted,  or  are 
even  necessarily  in  danger  of  tainting,  the  minds  of  others  with 
the  Antinomian  heresy.  It  is  enough  to  say,  that  if  they  bring 
Paul's  writings  into  disrepute  or  disuse,  by  attributing  to  him, 
without  sufficient  grounds,  doctrines  which  appear  to  lead  to 
such  pernicious  consequences,  they  are  answerable  for  the 
evil  thence  resulting.  Whenever  we  teach  for  gosj^el  truths 
anything  which  Scripture  does  not  warrant,  we  are  answerable 
for  the  effects  produced,  not  only  on  those  who  adopt  our  opin- 
ions, but  also  on  those  who  dissent  from  them. 

Let  Paul,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  sacred  writers,  be  studied 
with  diligence  and  candor,  and  without  any  bias  in  favor  of  an 
ingenious  and  consistent  theory  —  the  offspring  of  our  own  spec- 
ulations ;  let  the  student  "  prove  all  things,  and  hold  fast  that 
which  is  right ; "  and  to  this  end  let  him  observe  the  wise 
maxim  of  admitting  no  conclusion  which  is  not,  itself,  as  well 
as  the  premises  it  is  drawn  from,  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God. 
And  let  the  general  tenor  of  each  work  in  particular,  and  of 
the  Scriptures  altogether,  be  carefully  attended  to,  instead  of 
dwelling  exclusively  on  detached  passages  ;  and  then  we  may 

either  in  the  way  of  voluntary  penances  in  this  world,  or  in  the  flames  of  purga- 
tory, the  sinner  must  also  suffer  in  his  own  person  a  portion  of  the  penalty  due; 
even  as  you  hold  that  men  must  lead  virtuous  lives  themselves,  although  the 
perfect  righteousness  of  Christ  was  performed  in  their  stead,  and  is  imputed  to 
them  as  theirs." 
1  See  Whitby  on  this  subject. 


ON  EVIPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  189 

boldly  and  constantly  maintain  every  doctrine  which  we  find 
to  be  really  revealed,  however  mysterious,  or  however  unac- 
ceptable. 

"We  are,  in  reality,  not  preaching  the  gospel  unless  we  both 
preach  the  whole  gospel,  and,  hkewise,  the  gospel  alone ;  nor 
can  we  hope  for  the  apostle's  consolatory  trust  of  being  "  pure 
from  the  blood  of  all  men,"  unless,  Hke  him,  we  declare  to  men 
"  all  the  counsel  of  God,"  and  (as  a  part  of  the  Christian  faith) 
nothing  hut  "  the  counsel  of  God." 


190  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 


NOTE  TO  ESSAY  YI. 


Note  A— Page  174. 

That  it  is  possible  for  men  to  become  something  very  near  indeed 
to  Arianism  without  knowing  it,  we  have  a  curious  instance  in  eccle- 
siastical history.  In  the  early  stages  of  Arianism  a  confession  of 
faith  was  agreed  upon'  which  was  satisfactory  to  all  parties  till,  some 
time  after,  the  Arians  began  to  boast  of  their  triumph,  and  to  point 
out  the  sanction  which  the  formula  adopted  gave  to  their  doctrine ; 
and  then  "  the  church,"  says  Jerome,  "  marvelled  to  find  itself  unex- 
pectedly become  Arian." 

Something  of  the  same  kind,  on  a  smaller  scale,  took  place  very 
recently  among  ourselves.  The  discovery  of  Milton's  System  of  The- 
ology startled  many  persons,  by  its  avowed  Arianism,  who  had  been 
accustomed  to  commend  his  poems  for  their  sound  theology  ;  though 
they  convey  the  very  same  views,  stated  almost  as  plainly  as,  in 
a  poem,  they  could  be.  Numerous  passages,  indeed,  may  be  cited 
from  the  Paradise  Lost,  which  cannot  be  censured  as  heterodox, 
because  they  are  little  more  than  metrical  versions  of  portions  of 
Scripture.  But  such  passages  do  not  necessarily  prove  anything,  one 
way  or  the  other,  respecting  a  writer's  opinions ;  since  the  Scriptures 
themselves  appear,  to  an  Arian,  to  speak  Arianism,  —  to  a  Socinian, 
Socinianism,  etc.  But  that  there  is  in  the  poem  a  general  leaning 
such  as  I  have  just  alluded  to,  must,  I  think,  be  evident  except  to 
those  who,  from  various  causes,  and,  among  the  rest,  from  an  early 
and  habitual  study  of  Milton,^  have  themselves  imperceptibly  imbibed 
similar  notions. 

These  instances  are  amply  sufficient  to  prove,  at  the  very  least, 
such  a  possibility  as  I  have  alluded  to. 

Probably,  indeed,  the  whole  doctrine  of  justification  through  the 
ri<^hteousness  of  Christ  imputed  to  believers,  may  be  traced  in  a 

1  At  Eimini,  A.  D.  360.    Above  four  hundred  prelates  attended  it. 

2  When  I  speak,  however,  of  Milton  as  Arian,  I  do  not  mean  that  he  pre- 
cisely coincided  with  Arius.much  less  designed  to  enroll  himself  among  his  dis- 
ciples ;  I  mean  merely  to  designate  the  kind  of  error  towards  which  his  language 
tends.  Milton  certainly  was  "  nullius  addictus  jurare  in  verba  magistri,"  —  well 
inclined  to  think  for  himself,  though  not  always  to  "  think  soberly." 


ON  IMPUTED  RIGHTEOUSNESS.  191 

great  degree  to  these  seml-Arian  views.  Men  are  apt  to  conclude 
that  the  "righteousness  of  Christ"  must  denote  something  distinct 
from  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  bringing  forth  fruit  unto  holi- 
ness, because  they  fear  to  confound  together  what  they  habitually, 
though  unconsciously,  consider  two  different  agents.  Whereas  Scrip- 
ture, if  they  would  submit  to  be  implicitly  led  by  it,  promises  that 
Christ  will  come  unto  his  servants  and  "  make  his  abode  with  them," 
—  that  "  hereby  know  we  that  he  [Christ]  dwelleth  in  us,  by  his 
Spirit  which  he  hath  given  us ;  and  that  "  the  Lord  is  the^  Spirit." 

"  First,  I  observe,"  says  Archbishop  Sumner,  "  that  though  St. 
Paul  clearly  refers  back  to  Adam  the  origin  of  that  natural  corrup- 
tion which  requires  the  atonement  of  Christ,  as  the  passages  already 
cited  have  proved,  yet  he  does  not  in  his  general  practice  insist 
upon  Adam's  guilt  as  the  immediate  cause  of  divine  wrath  against 
those  he  is  addressing,  but  prefers  to  take  his  argument  from  its 
effects  upon  their  own  personal  character.  These  consequences  he 
represents  as  indisputable  and  universal,  which  must  be  constantly 
borne  in  mind,  both  in  the  first  application  to  Christ  as  the  author  of 
salvation,  and  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Christian's  life  and  con- 
flict with  the  world.  The  first  consequence  of  that '  fault  and  cor- 
ruption of  nature,*  which  we  derive  from  Adam,  is  actual  sin  and 
transgression  of  the  moral  law.  The  converts  at  Rome  he  humbles 
by  a  commemoration  of  the  '  idolatry,  fornication,  wickedness,  mali- 
ciousness, covetousness,  and  all  unrighteousness,'  to  which  they  had 
been  given  up  in  their  unconverted  state  (i.  29),  etc. 

"  To  the  Corinthians,  after  enumerating  the  heinous  sinners  who 
shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,  he  adds : 

"  '  Such  were  some  of  you '  (I.  vi.  11). 

"  To  the  Ephesians  he  says:  'You  hath  he  [God]  quickened,  ivho 
were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sitis,  wherein  in  times  past  ye  walked  ac- 
cording to  the  course  of  this  world,  according  to  the  prince  of  the  power 
of  the  air,  the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the  children  of  disobedience : 
among  whom  also  we  all  had  our  conversation  in  times  past  in  the  lust 
of  our  flesh,  fulfilling  the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of  the  mind ;  and 
were  by  nature  the  children  of  wrath,  even  as  others*  (ii.  1-3).  And, 
very  emphatically, 
'"Let  no  man  deceive  you  with  vain  words ;  for,  on  account  of  these 

1  Not  "  that  "  as  our  translation  has  it. 


192  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

thwgs  [fornication,  uncleanness,  covetousness]  cometh  the  wrath  of 
God  upon  the  children  of  disobedience  '  (Eph.  v.  6). 

"  The  Colossians  he  thus  reminds  of  what  they  owed  to  Christ : 
'  You  that  were  sometime  alienated  and  enemies  in  your  mind  by 
wicked  worksj  yet  now  hath  he  [Christ]  reconciled  '  (i.  21). 

"  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  the  Gentiles  are  condemned 
as  living  '  in  the  lust  of  concupiscence  '  (L  iv.  5).  In  that  to  Timothy, 
St.  Paul  declares  himself  to  have  been  the  chief  of  sinners,  because 
he  had  been  a  '  blasphemer,  a  persecutor,  and  injurious'  (I.  i.  13). 

"  Titus  he  instructs  to  put  his  flock  in  mind  of  their  former  sinful 
life :  '  For  we  ourselves  also  were  sometime  foolish,  disobedient,  de- 
ceived, serving  divers  lusts  and  pleasures,  living  in  malice  and  envy, 
hateful  and  hating  one  another'  (iii.  3). 

"  To  the  Hebrews  it  was  sufficient  to  show  that  '  the  high  priest 
needed  daibj  to  offer  up  sacrifice,  — frst  for  his  own  sins,  and  then 
for  those  of  the  people'  (vii.  27). 

"  So  1  Peter  iv.  3  :  '  The  time  past  of  our  life  may  suffice  us  to 
have  wrought  the  will  of  the  Gentiles,  when  we  walked  in  lascivious- 
ness,  lusts,  excess  of  wine,  revellings,  banquetings,  and  abominable  idol- 
atries' 

"  This,  then,  is  the  first  consequence  of  the  fall  of  Adam  evinced 
by  actual  sin  —  *  that  every  mouth  may  be  stopped,  and  all  the  world 
become  guilty  before  God ; '  and  ready  to  embrace,  with  humility 
and  consciousness  of  guilt,  the  righteousness  which  is  by  faith. 

''  I  next  observe,  that,  as  far  as  we  may  be  allowed  to  judge  from 
the  mode  in  which  St.  Paul  introduces  this  leading  doctrine  of  Chris- 
tianity, it  appears  that  he  deemed  it  more  necessary  and  advisable 
to  enforce  among  his  disciples  the  positive  effect  of  original  sin  upor 
their  own  hearts  and  lives,  than  the  punishment  to  which  they  were 
liable  from  the  fall  of  Adam,  considered  as  their  federal  head.  He 
was  well  aware  that  the  guilt  of  actual  transgression  comes  immedi- 
ately home  to  the  hearer's  conscience.  Whereas,  '  it  is  the  hardest 
thing  in  the  world  to  bring  carnal  reason  to  submit  to  and  approve 
of  the  equitableness  of  God's  proceedings  against  us  for  the  sin  of 
Adam.  Flesh  and  blood  can  hardly  brook  the  acknowledgment 
that  it  is  most  righteous  that  we  should  be  actually  and  personally 
wretched,  who  were  federally  disobedient  and  rebellious.'"^ — Sum- 
ner's Apostolical  Preaching,  ch.  iii. 

1  Hopkins  on  the  Covenants. 


ESSAY    VII 


ON  APPARENT  CONTRADICTIONS  IN  SCRIPTURE. 

§  I.  It  has  been  above  remarked  (Essay  II.)  that  the  expres- 
sion of  the  Apostle  Peter  relative  to  the  "  things 
hard  to  be  understood"  in  Paul's  writings,  has     „  .i>iffi;»i«^«  or 

O  7  Scripture  a  reason 

been  employed  to  furnish  an  excuse,  at  least,  if     for  the  attentive 

■•^     *'  '  '  study  of  it. 

not  a  reason,  for  neglecting  and  keeping  out  of 
sight  these  writings,  —  as  being,  to  the  generality  of  Christians, 
both  too  abstruse  to  be  studied  with  any  profit,  and  too  liable 
to  perversion  to  be  approached  with  safety.  And  the  principle 
of  avoiding  altogether  whatever  is  hard  to  be  understood,  or 
liable  to  be  wrested  to  a  destructive  purpose,  naturally  extends 
itself  (as  indeed  the  passage  in  question  cannot  but  seem  to 
warrant)  to  other  parts  of  Scripture  as  well  as  to  Paul's  epistles, 
till  the  result  ensues  of  an  exclusive  attention  to  certain  narra- 
tives of  fact,  and  plain  moral  precepts ;  while  aU  that  relates 
to  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  Christianity  is  left,  as  matter  of 
mere  speculative  inquiry,  in  the  hands  of  learned  theologians. 

Of  the  precise  extent  of  such  an  error,  no  one  individual  can 
be  an  adequate  judge ;  but  that  it  is  not  imaginary  —  that  it 
does  prevail  to  a  considerable  degree  —  is  a  conclusion  which 
I  am  convinced  no  one  will  doubt  who  has  made  extensive  and 
careful  observations.  Indeed,  there  is  in  the  human  mind  a 
kind  of  indolence  which  tends  to  produce  this  consequence. 

The  remark  of  the  intelligent  historian  of  Greece  will  remain 
17 


194  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

as  true  as  ever  wliile  human  nature  continues  the  same,  that 
"  the  generality  of  men  are  averse  to  labor  in  the  investigation  of 
truth,  and  ready  rather  to  acquiesce  in  what  is  set  before  them." 
The  most  corrupt  churches,  in  the  darkest  and  most  priest-rid- 
den ages  and  countries,  have  only  taken  advantage  of  (what  they 
could  not  have  created)  this  disposition  of  the  many  to  leave 
the  task  of  searching  the  Scriptures  to  the  learned  few,  —  to  let 
tliera  acquire  knowledge,  instead  of  themselves,  —  and  to  acqui- 
esce without  inquiry  into  whatever  these  should  promulgate. 
The  clergy  of  those  churches  were  thence  looked  to,  not  as 
leaders  and  assistants  to  the  laity  in  the  study  of  Scripture, 
but  as  their  substitutes ;  and  the  word  of  God  became,  in  con- 
sequence, a  prohibited  book  to  the  great  body  of  Christians, 
who  were  thus  left  to  the  guidance  of  men  often  themselves 
ignorant  of  Scripture,  but  whose  ignorance  the  others  had  lost 
the  means  of  detecting.  This  state  of  things,  however,  no 
priestcraft  could  have  brought  about,  had  not  the  dread  of  labo- 
rious investigation  prepared  the  way  for  it.^ 

That  there  are  difficulties  in  many  parts  of  Scripture,  —  as 
great  perhaps  in  Paul's  writings  as  in  any,  —  and  that  there  is 
consequent  danger  of  mischievous  perversion,  is  undeniable,  and 
is,  indeed,  what  analogy  would  prepare  us  to  expect ;  for  if  the 
Scriptures  could  be  properly  understood  without  any  trouble, 
and  were  incapable  of  perversion  to  bad  purposes,  they  would 
be  extremely  unlike  the  rest  of  God's  gifts. 

But  the  difficulties  of  Scripture,  as  well  as  the  danger  of 
misinterpreting  it,  are  evidently  an  additional  reason  for  dili- 
gence in  the  study  of  it.  And  Peter's  implied  censure  of  "  those 
who  are  unlearned "  (that  is,  ill  acquainted  with  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ)  and,  as  will  naturally  follow,  "  unstable,"  and 
likely  to  be  "  blown  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine,"  should 

1 1  have  treated  of  this  subject  more  at  large  in  a  Sermon  on  the  Christian 
Triesthood,  subjoined  to  the  second  edition  of  the  Bampton  Lectures;  and  also 
in  the  Essay  (Third  Series)  on  Vicarious  Eeligion. 


ON  APPARENT  CONTRADICTIONS  IN  SCRIPTURE.       195 

operate  as  a  caution,  not  against  the  study  of  the  Scriptures, 
but  against  the  faults  which  would  lead  us  to  wrest  them  to  our 
destruction. 

To  examine  into  all  the  difficulties  of  Scripture,  or  even  of 
Paul's  writings  alone,  would  be  a  task  to  which  perhaps  the 
whole  life  of  any  single  individual  would  be  scarcely  adequate : 
to  lay  down  all  the  rules  that  might  be  applicable  in  such  a  task, 
would  far  exceed  my  present  limits ;  but  it  may  be  worth  while 
to  offer  a  few  remarks  on  some  of  the  most  important,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  most  commonly  overlooked,  of  those  principles 
which  should  be  kept  in  view  in  the  study  of  the  doctrinal  parts 
of  Scripture  ;  and  the  neglect  of  which  has  aggravated,  if  not 
produced,  many  of  the  difficulties  complained  of  (in  Paul's  writ- 
ings especially),  and  has  led,  in  many  instances,  to  perplexity, 
if  not  to  error. 

§  11.  1.  It  is  evidently  of  great  importance,  with  a  view 
to  the  right  interpretation  of  any  author,  to  con- 

Principles  to  be 

sider,  and  to  understand  fully,  his  general  drift  kept  in  mind  in 
and  design.  If  we  are  mistaken  in  this  point,  '« ^  "^  y- 
the  utmost  diligence  and  the  utmost  ingenuity  may  sometimes 
answer  no  other  purpose  than  to  lead  us  the  further  astray. 
Now  it  is,  I  conceive,  not  uncommon  to  consider  revelation  as 
designed,  in  part,  to  convey  to  us  speculative  truths,  —  to  in- 
crease our  knowledge  concerning  divine  things  as  they  are  in 
their  own  intrinsic  nature  ;  —  in  short,  to  teach  us  not  merely 
religion  properly  so  called  (that  is,  the  relations  between  God 
and  man),  but  also  what  may  be  styled  theological  philosophy 
—  a  certain  branch  of  abstract  science.^  All  men,  it  is  true, 
acknowledge  revelation  to  have  a  practical  purpose ;  but  it  is 
conceivable  that  this  might  still  be  the  case,  though  it  were  not 

»  Hinds's  Rise  and  Early  Progress  of  Christianity.    Introduction,  p.  31.    See 
also  Essay  IV.  (First  Series). 


196  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

confined  to  such  purposes ;  it  might,  conceivably,  propose  to 
our  belief,  both  practical  truths,  and  speculative  truths  also, 
distinct  from  each  other ;  and  such  a  notion  of  the  Christian 
revelation  may,  without  being  distinctly  avowed,  be  neverthe- 
less practically  entertained  and  acted  upon. 

2.  Nearly  allied  to,  and  resulting  from,  such  a  view  of  the 
Scriptures,  —  namely,  as  being,  more  or  less  of  the  nature  of  a 
philosophical  system,  —  is  the  expectation,  before  alluded  to,  of 
finding  in  them  a  regular  technical  vocabulary,  —  a  set  of 
terms,  confined  each  to  its  own  appropriate  sense,  in  which  it 
shall  be  uniformly  and  precisely  employed.  This  might  indeed 
take  place  in  a  purely  practical  system ;  but  in  any  case  where 
speculative  scientific  truth  was  the  object,  it  would  be  altogether 
requisite ;  and  the  more  the  Scriptures  are  viewed  in  this  light, 
the  more  the  student  will  be  disposed  to  regard  each  word  and 
phrase  as  bearing  throughout  a  fixed  and  peculiar  sense  — just 
as  might  be  expected  in  a  creed,  catechism,  system  of  articles, 
code  of  ethics,  or  any  such  composition.^ 

3.  In  any  scientific  treatise,  employing  its  own  appropriate 
technical  terms,  any  single  detached  passage  will  usually  be 
sufficiently  intelligible  to  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  defini- 
tion of  those  terms.  It  may,  indeed,  need  others  to  estahlish 
its  truth,  or  to  be  combined  with  it  for  the  proof  of  ulterior 
truths,  but  not  to  ascertain  its  meaning.  In  proportion,  there- 
fore, as  the  Scriptures  are  regarded  as  approaching  to  the 
character  of  a  philosophical  system,  furnished  with  a  regular 
technical  phraseology,  in  the  same  degree  will  the  student  be 
disposed  to  build  conclusions  on  insulated  passages,  without 
thinking  it  necessary  in  every  instance  to  refer  to  the  context, 
and  to  explain  one  part  of  Scripture  by  others. 

4.  Lastly,  one  who  has  been  accustomed  to  take,  in  any  de- 
gree, such  a  view  of  Scripture  as  I  have  been  describing,  (and 

'  See  Essay  on  Omissions  (First  Series). 


ON  APPARENT  CONTRADICTIONS  IN  SCRIPTURE.       197 

tliere  are  many  who  are  disposed  to  do  so,  though  without  ac- 
knowledging it,  even  to  themselves),  will,  of  course,  when  they 
meet  with  passages  which  seem  at  variance  with  each  other, 
be  inclined  (if,  indeed,  they  are  not  absolutely  driven  into 
doubts  as  to  the  truth  of  some  portion  of  Scripture)  to  regard 
these  merely  in  the  light  of  difficulties  designed  for  the  trial  of 
their  faith,  —  which  they  must  surmount  as  well  as  they  can,  by 
explaining  away  such  texts  as  are  most  adverse  to  their  own 
conclusions,  —  while  they  dwell  on  every  one  that  favors  them ; 
softening  down,  if  I  may  so  speak,  by  their  interpretation,  every 
other  part  of  Scripture,  into  a  conformity  with  the  hypothesis 
which  they  have  built  on  some  selected  portion. 

It  is  true,  indeed,  that  no  one  ever  professed  a  design  of 
studying  Scripture  on  such  a  plan  as  has  been  described ;  but 
it  is  no  less  true  that  many  have  at  all  times  evinced,  in  vari- 
ous degrees,  a  tendency  to  slide  into  it  insensibly,  —  that  to 
these  causes,  in  great  measure,  may  be  traced  all  the  errone- 
ous systems  of  faith  which  have  at  various  times  prevailed, 
—  and  that  many  of  the  difficulties  complained  of,  especially 
the  discrepancies  between  the  several  parts  of  Scripture,  and 
particularly  between  the  Apostle  Paul  and  the  other  sacred 
writers,  have  been  either  produced  or  greatly  aggravated  by 
this  mistaken  mode  of  studying  the  sacred  records. 

That  the  Scriptures  contain  nothing  like  a  philosophical  sys- 
tem, set  forth  in  technical  phraseology,  and  that  we  must  not 
expect  to  understand  them  by  confining  our  attention  to  cer- 
tain insulated  passages,  and  disregarding  or  explaining  away  the 
rest,  but  must  interpret  each  by  the  context  and  from  the 
rest  of  Scripture  —  these  maxims  appear  so  obvious,  when 
distinctly  stated,  that  we  are  apt  to  be  the  less  sensible  what 
vigilant  care  is  requisite  in  order  to  conform  to  them  steadily 
in  practice.  It  may  be  advisable,  therefore,  to  offer  some  brief 
remarks  on  each  of  the  points  that  have  been  just  alluded  to. 
17* 


198  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

§  III.  1.  That  the  natural  desire  of  knowledge  for  its  own 
sake  tends  to  influence  men's  jud<yment  respect- 

The   knowledge       ^  ^       o  i 

revealed  not  sprc-     ing  a  divine  revelatiou,  in  which  they  are  apt  to 

ulative,  but  relative 

to  man,  and  prac     scck,  not  merely  practical  truths,  but  the  gratifi- 

tical. 

cation  of  speculative  curiosity,  I  have  elswhere 
taken  occasion  to  remark.^  All  pretended  revelations,  accord- 
ingly, and  legendary  tales  of  saints,  —  all  the  disquisitions  con- 
cerning things  divine  of  the  heathen  philosophers  (and  I  fear, 
we  may  add,  of  some  Christian  theologians,  however  otherwise 
different)  concur  in  this,  that  they  relate  in  great  measure,  if 
not  exclusively,  to  the  nature  and  attributes  and  works  of  the 
Supreme  Being,  as  he  is  in  himself,  —  to  the  real  state  of 
things  in  the  invisible  world,  however  unconnected  with  human 
conduct ;  while  our  revelation  is  characterized,  as  I  there  ob- 
served, by  abstaining  from  speculative  points,  —  by  refusing  to 
gratify  mere  curiosity,  —  by  teaching,  in  short,  not  philosophy, 
but  what  is  properly  called  religion,  —  the  knowledge,  that  is, 
of  the  relations  between  God  and  man,  and  of  the  practical 
truths  thence  resulting. 

Those,  therefore,  are  not  likely  to  interpret  Scripture  rightly, 
who  are  not  content  with  relative  truths,  but  seek  to  ascertain, 
in  each  instance,  the  real  state  of  things ;  the  knowledge  of 
which,  in  many  cases,  probably,  could  not  be  imparted  to  us 
with  our  present  faculties,  and  is  often  withheld  where  it 
might.  Such  a  student  is  likely  to  mistake  the  sense  of  the 
sacred  writers,  from  not  judging  aright  what  kind  of  instruction 
it  is  that  they  designed  to  impart ;  his  religious  notions  are 
"  spoiled  through  philosophy  and  vain  deceit,  after  the  tradi- 
tion of  men,  after  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and  not  after 
Christ."  And  from  such  a  view  of  the  Scriptures,  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  doctrinal  parts  of  them  are  unnecessary,  unprof- 

«  Essay  IV.    (First  Series). 


ON  APPARENT  CONTRADICTIONS  IN  SCRIPTURE.       199 

itable,  and  unsafe  to  the  great  mass  of  Christians,  will  be  the 
natural  result.  Both  the  learned  and  the  unlearned  will  agree 
in  taking  this  view  of  the  Scripture  doctrines :  the  presump- 
tuous inquiries  of  the  one  class  have  a  direct  tendency  to  sanc- 
tion and  foster  the  indolent  indifference  of  the  other.^ 

2.  And  as  nothing  was  further  from  the  design  of  Paul 
and  the  other   sacred  writers  than  to  frame  a 

In  language  not 

philosophical  system,  so  they  aimed  at  no  philo-     scientific,  but  pop- 

lar. 

sophical  regularity  of  language.  Their  writings, 
as  I  have  before  remarked,  were  popular,  not  scientific ;  they 
expressed  their  meaning,  on  each  occasion,  in  the  words  which, 
on  each  occasion,  suggested  themselves  as  best  fitted  to  convey 
it  to  readers  of  plain  understanding ;  and  these  terms  are  to  be 
understood,  though  not  indeed  always  in  their  ordinary  sense, 
yet,  on  the  other  hand,  not  according  to  any  precise  scientific 
definition,  but  each  with  reference  to  the  context  of  the  place 
where  it  is  found. 

3.  Again,  it  is  this  popular  and  unsystematic  character  of 
the  sacred  writings  that  makes  it  the  more  un-  tq  be  interpreted 
safe  to  dweU  on  detached  portions  of  them,  in-  pL';g7tuh  Z- 
stead  of  comparing  each  part  of  Scripture  with     °^^^^- 

the  rest.  Not  merely  incomplete  knowledge,  but  actual  error, 
will  often  be  the  result ;  because  it  will  often  happen,  as  might 
be  expected  in  an  unscientific  discourse,  that  the  author  has  in 
view,  in  some  particular  passage,  not  the  full  development 
of  any  truth,  but  the  correction  of  some  particular  mistake, 
the  inculcation  of  some  particular  caution,  or  the  enforcement 
of  some  particular  portion  of  a  doctrine  or  precept ;  so  that 
such  a  passage,  contemplated  by  itself,  would  tend  to  partial, 
and,  consequently,  erroneous  views. 

1  The  sense  of  the  term  "  mystery,"  as  employed  by  the  sacred  writers,  is  very 
commonly  mistaken ;  and  the  mistake  has  been  a  source  of  much  error.  See 
rarkhurst's  Lexicon  to  the  New  Testament,  on  the  word  MvaTi'jpiov.  See  Note 
A,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


200  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

4.  And  as  it  is  hence  necessary  to  call  in  the  aid  of  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Scripture  for  the  interpretation 

Especially  those 

seeminsiy  at  vari-  of  cacli  Other,  SO  tliosc  wlilch  appear  the  most 
at  variance  with  each  other  —  which,  if  taken 
singly,  and  strictly  interpreted,  would  contradict  each  other  — 
are,  for  that  very  reason,  the  most  important  to  be  brought 
together  and  contemplated  in  connection.  The  seeming  contra- 
dictions in  Scripture  are  too  numerous  not  to  be  the  result  of 
design  ;  and  doubtless  were  designed,  not  as  mere  difficulties  to 
try  our  faith  and  patience,  but  as  furnishing  the  most  suitable 
mode  of  instruction  that  could  have  been  devised,  by  mutually 
explaining  and  modifying,  or  limiting  or  extending,  one  anoth- 
er's meaning.  By  this  means  we  are  furnished,  in  some  degree, 
with  a  test  of  the  truth  or  falsity  of  our  conclusions :  as  long 
as  the  appearance  of  mutual  contradiction  remains,  we  may 
be  sure  that  we  are  wrong ;  when  we  can  fairly  and  without 
violence '  reconcile  passages  of  opposite  tendencies,  we  may 
entertain  a  hope  that  we  are  right. 

Such  must  be  the  procedure  of  the  candid  inquirer  after 
truth ;  and  by  which,  through  divine  help,  he  may  hope  to  at- 
tain it.  Those  whose  object  is  to  find  arguments  in  support  of 
a  favorite  hypothesis,  built  on  a  partial  view  of  Scripture,  will 
often  be  no  less  successful  in  their  object  in  finding  texts 
that  will  serve  to  give  plausibility  to  their  own  system,  and  to 
perplex  an  opponent.  But  that  opponent  will  usually  have 
exactly  the  same  advantages  on  his  side  also;  each  party 
having  apparently  some  portion  of  Scripture  favorable  to  his 
scheme,  and  others  which  he  can  hardly  reconcile  with  it,  and 
both  parties  perhaps  being  equally  remote  from  the  truth,  and 
guilty  of  the  very  same  error  as  to  their  mode  of  interpreting 
Scripture. 

*  See  Pascal's  Thoughts,  Xin.  12. 


ox  APrARENT  CONTRADICTIONS  IN  SCRIPTURE.       201 

§  TV.  That  the  apparent  contradictions  of  Scripture  are 
numerous,  —  that  the  instruction  conveyed  by 

Apparent  con ti-a- 

them,  if  they  be  indeed   designed  for  such   a     dictions  of  scrip. 

.  .  ,  ture  numerous. 

purpose,   is  furnished   m   abundance,  —  is  too 
notorious  to  need  being  much  insisted  on. 

We  are  told  that  God  "  repented  of  having  made  man  upon 
the  earth," — that  he  "repented  of  having  made  Saul  king 
over  Israel," —  that  "  he  repented  him  of  the  evil ; "  and 
again,  that  "  he  is  not  the  son  of  man  that  he  should  repent ; " 
and  that  "  in  him  is  no  variableness  nor  shadow  of  turning." 

"We  are  told  that  "  whosoever  is  born  of  God,  doth  not  com- 
mit sin  ;  "  yet  again,  by  the  very  same  author,  that  "  if  we  say 
we  have  no  sin,  we  deceive  ourselves."  ^ 

We  read  in  one  apostolical  epistle  that  Abraham  was  justi- 
fied by  faith,  and  in  another  that  he  was  justified  by  works. 

One  discourse  of  our  Lord's,  in  which  he  makes  mention  of 
the  day  of  judgment,  and  describes  the  blessing  and  the  curse 
respectively  pronounced  on  those  who  have  performed  or  neg- 
lected such  charitable  offices  as  feeeing  the  hungry,  clothing 
the  naked,  and  ministering  to  the  sick,  might  seem  to  favor  the 

1 "  When  the  Apostle  John  says  that  •  whatsoever  is  born  of  God  overcometh 
the  world,  and  that  every  one  who  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin,'  it  can- 
not be  supposed  that  he  meant  to  attribute  to  Christians  moral  perfection  and 
impeccability,  when,  on  the  contrary,  he  exhorts  them  to  '  confess  their  sins.' 
Far  was  it  from  his  design  to  teach  that  one  who  did  but  feel  convinced  of  having 
experienced  the  new  birth,  might  safely  remit  his  exertions  and  relax  his  vigi- 
lance against  sin,  and  '  count  himself  to  liave  apprehended,'  and  to  be  thencefor- 
ward sure  of  divine  acceptance  and  of  everlasting  life,  without '  taking  heed  lest 
he  fall.'  On  the  contrary,  he  was  writing,  as  is  well  known,  in  opposition  to 
those  Gnostics  of  his  day,  who  were  grossly  Antinomian,  and  who,  while  they 
professed  to  '  have  no  sin '  in  God's  sight,  and  to  be  sure  of  salvation  through 
their  supposed  '  knowing  the  gospel '  (gnosis),  lived  a  life  of  flagrant  immorality. 

*'  In  contradiction  to  these  monstrous  tenets,  he  declares  that  every  one  who 
has  a  well-grounded  '  hope  in  Christ,  purifieth  himself,  even  as  he  is  pure,'  — 
that  a  sinful  life  is  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  the  '  sons  of  God,'  — that 
the  tendency^  in  short,  and  suitable  result  of  being  '  born  of  God,'  is  opposed  to 
the  commission  of  sin."— Tract  on  Sacraments,  pp.  49, 50. 


202  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

conclusion  that  our  final  doom  is  to  depend  exclusively  on  our 
care  or  neglect  of  our  distressed  brethren,  without  any  regard 
to  our  faith,  or  to  the  purity  or  the  integrity  of  our  lives.  In 
his  final  charge  to  his  disciples,  again,  it  might  seem  that  every- 
thing is  made  to  depend  on  right  belief  alone,  —  "  He  that  be- 
lieveth  and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved." 

We  are  told  again  by  our  Lord,  to  pray  and  to  give  alms 
secretly ;  and  again,  to  let  our  "  light  so  shine  before  men  that 
they  may  see  our  good  works  ; "  and  by  the  apostle,  "  not  to 
forsake  the  assembling  of  ourselves  together  "  for  the  purpose 
of  worship. 

We  are  told  by  our  Lord,  "  He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against 
me ; "  and  again,  "  He  that  is  not  against  us  is  with  us,"  —  that 
"  he  who  hateth  not  his  father  and  mother,  and  wife  and  children, 
and  all  that  he  hath,  cannot  be  his  disciple  ;"  and  again,  by  his 
apostle,  that  "  he  who  provideth  not  for  his  own  house  is  worse 
than  an  infidel." 

The  same,  again,  who  tells  his  disciples, "  the  Father  hath  sent 
me "  —  "I  go  to  the  Father "  —  " the  Father  is  greater  than 
I " — "  I  can  of  mine  own  self  do  nothing,"  tells  them,  also,  "  He 
that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father :  I  am  in  the  Father, 
and  the  Father  in  me :  I  and  the  Father  are  one."  The 
same  who  tells  them  that  he  "  will  not  leave  them  comfortless, 
but  will  come  unto  them,"  and  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"  tells  them,  also,  "  If  I  go  not 
away,  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you  ;  but  if  I  depart,  I 
will  send  him  unto  you."  Yet  again  he  teUs  them  of  "  the 
Comforter  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  his  (Christ's)  name  ; " 
and  again,  in  another  place,  "  If  any  man  will  keep  my  saying, 
my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto  him,  and 
make  our  abode  with  him." 

And  he  who  was  preached  to  Cornelius  as  one  whom  "  God 
anointed  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power/'  is  spoken  of 


ON  APPARENT  CONTRADICTIONS  IN  SCRIPTURE.       203 

by  Paul  as  "  over  all,  God  blessed  for  ever,"  "  in  whom  dwell' 
eth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily."  ^  And  instances  of 
a  similar  character  might  be  multiplied  to  a  great  extent. 

I  am  well  aware  what  copious  and  satisfactory  explanations 
have  been  given  of  a  multitude  of  such  seeming  discrepancies 
as  these :  the  only  point  that  pertains  to  the  present  question, 
and  which  we  ought,  I  think,  strongly  to  dwell  upon,  is,  that 
they  are  not  to  be  regarded  merely  in  the  light  of  difficulties, 
but  rather  as  belonging  to  the  mode  of  instruction  employed  in 
Scripture.  Even  in  teaching  moral  duties  there  are  good 
reasons  for  introducing,  as  we  find  is  occasionally  done,  some 
maxims,  which,  taken  separately,  and  interpreted  with  literal 
strictness,  are  at  variance  with  each  other ;  but  which,  when 
taken  in  connection,  serve  to  explain  and  modify  each  other. 
Instructions  thus  conveyed  are  evidently  more  striking  and 
more  likely  to  arouse  the  attention,  and  also,  from  the  very 
circumstance  that  they  call  for  careful  reflection,  more  likely  to 
make  a  lasting  impression.^ 

But  there  are  additional  reasons  for  adopting  this  mode  of 
conveying  to  us  the  requisite  knowledge  con- 
cerning mysteries  which  are  not  directly  com-  dS^n'Id."* ''"'^^^^ 
prehensible  by  our  understanding.  Since  no 
language  could  convey  to  man,  with  his  present  faculties,  in 
proper  terms,  a  clear  and  just  notion  of  thosa  attributes  and 
acts  of  the  Supreme  Being  which  revelation  designed  to  im- 
part, it  was  necessary  for  this  purpose  to  resort  to  analogical 
expressions,  which  may  convey  to  us,  in  faint  shadows  and 
figures,  such  a  knowledge  of  divine  mysteries  as  is  requisite, 
and  is  alone  within  the  reach  of  our  capacity.^  Now  the 
disadvantage  attending  the  use  of  such  language  is,  that 
men  are  sometimes  apt  to  understand  it  too  literally,  and  to 

^  See  Appendix  to  Elements  of  Logic,  Art.  "Person." 

2  See  the  following  Essay. 

8  See  Archbishop  King's  Discourse  on  Predestination. 


204  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

interpret  what  is  said  more  strictly  than  was  intended.  And 
the  best  remedy  against  this  mistake  is  to  vary  the  figures 
employed  as  much  as  possible,  —  to  illustrate  the  same  thing 
by  several  different  analogies,  —  by  which  means  these  several 
expressions,  being  inconsistent  when  understood  literally,  will 
serve  to  limit  and  correct  each  other,  and  thus,  together,  to 
convey  more  clearly  the  real  meaning  designed.^ 

What  has  been  just  said  may  be  illustrated  by  the  language 
we  employ  in  speaking  of  the  human  mind  and  its  operations, 
respecting  which  we  have  few  or  no  terms  that  are  not,  origi- 
nally at  least,  borrowed  from  the  material  world.  For  instance, 
it  is  very  common  to  speak  of  the  memory  as  a  kind  of  store- 
house or  repository ;  we  speak  of  treasuring  up  things  in 
the  memory,  of  having  the  memory  well  stored,  and  the  like. 
"Now  there  might  be  a  danger  that  by  the  long  and  familiar  use 
of  such  figurative  expressions  we  should  at  length  come  to 
forget  that  they  are  figurative,  —  to  imagine  the  brain  to  be  lit- 
erally a  kind  of  storehouse,  and  the  ideas  or  notions  to  be  some 
real  things  actually  laid  up  within  it.  But  this  mistake  is 
guarded  against  by  another,  and  quite  different  set  of  figura- 
tive expressions  for  describing  the  same  thing ;  for  we  often, 
again,  speak  of  the  memory  as  a  kind  oi  writing-tablet ;  we  speak 
of  things  being  written,  imprinted,  engraved  on  the  memory  ; 
or,  again,  of  their  being  erased  from  the  memory.  Now  these 
expressions,  again,  would  mislead  men  if  understood  literally ; 
but  this  is  prevented  by  those  other  modes  of  expression  before 
mentioned,  which  in  their  turn  are  limited  and  explained  by 
these.  For  by  considering  that  the  two,  when  taken  literally, 
contradict  each  other,  — that  the  memory  cannot  be  literally 
at  once  a  storehouse  and  a  writing-tablet,  —  we  are  habitually 
reminded  that  it  is  literally  neither,  but  is  so  called  only  by 
analogy.^ 

1  See  Stuart's  Philosophy,  Vol.  I. 

2  See  Elements  of  Logic,  Dissertation,  chap.  v.  §  1,  towards  the  end. 


ON  APPARENT  CONTRADICTIONS  IN  SCRIPTURE.       205 

Now  as  we  are  thus  unable  to  speak  even  of  the  workings 
of  the  human  mind  without  using  such  figurative  expressions, 
much  less  can  we  expect  that  all  which  is  to  be  taught  us  of 
the  things  relating  to  the  Most  High  can  be  conveyed  to  us  in 
any  other  way.  And  in  each  case  it  is  requisite  that  the  fig- 
ures employed  should  be  several  and  various,  in  order  the 
better  to  guard  us  against  understanding  any  one  of  them 
more  literally  than  was  intended.  It  was  designed,  therefore, 
that  many  of  the  expressions  employed  should  be  such  as 
would,  if  strictly  and  literally  interpreted,  contradict  each  other; 
and  such  as  may,  when  reconciled  together,  lead  us  as  near 
the  truth  as  our  minds  are  capable  of  approaching.  The 
mariner  who  has  to  steer  his  passage  through  the  untracked 
ocean  when  it  happens  that  he  cannot  have  the  exact  line  of 
his  course  pointed  out,  is  often  enabled  to  avoid  any  important 
deviation  from  it  by  being  acquainted  with  certain  boundaries 
on  each  side  of  it,  and  by  keeping  his  vessel  between  them. 
Certain  rocks  and  landmarks  may  serve  to  furnish  to  his  eye  a 
kind  of  line  which  will  secure  him,  as  long  as  he  keeps  within 
them,  from  certain  shoals  or  currents  which  he  is  to  avoid  on 
one  side  of  his  destined  course ;  but  this  is  of  no  service  in 
guarding  him  against  the  dangers  which  may  beset  him  on  the 
opposite  quarter  :  for  this  purpose  another  line  must  be  pointed 
out  to  him,  in  the  same  manner,  on  the  contrary  side  :  and 
though  neither  of  these  lines  is  precisely  that  of  the  course  he 
is  to  steer,  yet  an  attention  to  both  of  them  will  enable  him 
to  proceed  midway  in  safety,  and  in  the  direction  required. 
Even  thus  it  will  often  happen  that  two  apparently  opposite 
passages  of  Scripture  may  together  enable  us  to  direct  our 
faith  or  our  practice  aright :  one  shall  be  calculated  to  guard 
us  against  certain  errors  on  one  side,  and  the  other  on  the 
other  side :  neither,  taken  alone,  shall  convey  the  exact  and 
entire  truth ;  but  both,  taken  in  conjunction,  may  enable  us 
18 


206  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

sufficiently  to  ascertain  it.  Perplexity,  therefore,  and  error 
must  be  the  result  of  an  undue  preference  and  an  overstrict 
interpretation  of  one  or  two  such  expressions,  to  the  neglect 
of  the  others.  For  we  have  in  many  instances  (to  use  another 
illustration)  something  corresponding  to  the  composition  of 
forces  in  mechanics  :  several  different  texts  will  be  analogous 
to  several  impulses  in  various  directions  acting  on  a  body 
which  is  to  be  set  in  motion,  and  whose  combined  effect  will 
propel  it  in  the  direction  required ;  though  no  one  of  the  im- 
pulses, taken  singly,  is  acting  precisely  in  that  direction. 

§  V.  After  all,  indeed,  the  notions  conveyed  to  us  in  this 
The  knowledge  Way  cau  bc  but  vcry  faint  and  indistinct ;  but 
rror;;ut,lX-  ^^^  ^hat  very  reason  they  are  the  less  likely  to 
icai  and  indistinct,  j^g  incorrcct ;  for  if  we  obtain  a  full  and  clear 
notion  of  things  beyond  the  reach  of  the  human  faculties,  it 
cannot  fail  to  be  an  erroneous  notion.  The  main  object  of  rev- 
elation being  to  represent  to  us,  not  so  much  what  God  is  in  him- 
self as  what  he  is  relatively  to  us,  with  a  view  to  our  practical 
benefit,  this  object  may  be  sufficiently  accomplished  by  dim  and 
faint  pictures  of  things  which  could  not  otherwise  be  revealed 
at  all.  The  "  light  which  no  man  can  approach  unto,"  if  pre- 
sented in  unmitigated  blaze  to  eyes  too  weak  to  endure  it, 
would  blind  instead  of  enlightening ;  we  now  "  see,  by  means 
of  the  reflection  of  a  glass,"  what  we  could  not  otherwise  see 
at  all. 

Although,  however,  we  may  well  believe  that  we  are  deficient 
in  faculties  for  comprehending,  as  they  are  in  themselves,  many 
things  of  which  the  Scriptures  furnish  us  with  some  faint  rep- 
resentations, yet  since,  of  course,  no  one  can  form  a  distinct 
conception  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  his  own  deficiency,  it 
may  be  profitable  to  illustrate  our  own  case  by  that  of  a  per- 
son destitute  of  some  faculty  which  we  do  possess ;  by  which 


0^  APPARENT  CONTRADICTIONS  IN  SCRIPTURE.       207 

means  we  may  the  better  understand  the  nature  of  that  mode 
of  instruction  which  the  Scriptures  adopt,  and  the  advantage 
and  necessity  of  employing  it  for  such  beings  as  we  now  are. 
Let  any  one,  for  instance,  attend  to  the  case  of  a  man  born 
blind,  and  endeavor  to  convey  to  him  some  idea  of  the  sense 
of  seeing,  and  of  the  nature  of  light  and  colors.  When  you 
attempt  this,  you  will  then  be  in  a  situation  answering  in  some 
degree  to  that  of  the  inspired  writers  when  they  are  instructing 
us  in  the  unseen  things  of  God.  You  might  easily  explain 
to  the  blind  man  that  colors  are  perceived  by  the  eyes,  which 
convey  to  men  (as  well  as  the  organs  of  the  other  senses,  and 
even  better)  a  knowledge  of  the  objects  around  us ;  you  might 
also  easily  make  him  understand  that  light  is  something  differ- 
ent from  heat,  and  yet  proceeds  from  the  sun,  a  fire,  a  candle, 
or  the  like  ;  and  that  when  nothing  of  this  kind  is  present 
there  is  darkness,  in  which  no  one  can  see  ;  and  also  that  light 
is  cheerful  and  agreeable,  and  darkness  something  melancholy. 
So  far,  we  are  giving  merely  general  descriptions ;  w^hich 
would  be  intelligible  enough,  but  could  convey  only  the  most 
faint  and  imperfect  idea  of  seeing.  You  might  then  impart 
some  further  knowledge  by  means  of  the  analogy  of  the  other 
senses ;  for  instance,  you  might  teach  him  that  seeing,  in  one 
respect,  resembles  hearing  and  smelling,  inasmuch  as  it  con- 
veys a  knowledge  of  things  at  a  distance,  as  they  do  ;  but  that, 
nevertheless,  it  is  as  different  from  either  of  them  as  they  are 
from  each  other;  and  that,  moreover,  seeing  gives  us,  w^hat 
hearing  and  smelling  can  not,  a  notion  of  the  magnitude  and  of 
the  form  of  bodies,  in  which  respect  it  agrees  with  the  sense 
of  touch ;  though  this  last,  again,  conveys  the  knowledge  of  such 
bodies  only  as  are  close  to  us,  whereas  sight  extends  to  a  dis- 
tance. 

Now  such  instruction  as  this,  given  to  a  blind  man,  may 
serve  to  illustrate  what  has  been  just  said  about  the  apparent 


208  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

contradictions  in  Scripture  ;  for  the  blind  man  might  easily  in- 
terpret the  two  parts  of  this  lesson  as  contradictory,  and  might 
say,  "  How  can  the  same  thing  bear  any  resemblance  to  hear- 
ing, and  at  the  same  time  to  feeling?"  Or  he  might  regard 
even  each  part  of  the  lesson  as  in  itself  contradictory  and 
impossible  —  saying,  "  You  would  fain  persuade  me  that  there 
is  some  way  of  touching  things  at  a  distance  ;  or  that  there 
is  a  kind  of  hearing  or  of  smelling  by  which  one  can  judge  of 
form  and  magnitude  —  neither  of  which  is  conceivable."  And 
it  is  plain  that  if  he  regarded  either  part  of  your  instruction 
hy  itself,  and  w^as  not  careful  to  limit  and  explain  it  by  the 
other,  he  would  be  utterly  misled ;  for  he  would  suppose  seeing 
to  be  much  more  like  some  one  of  the  other  senses  than  it 
really  is.  But  if  he  were  careful  to  attend  to  the  whole, 
together,  and  to  consider  that  two  things  may  be  very  much 
alike  in  one  respect,  and  yet  very  different  in  others,^  and  that 
the  same  thing  may  be  compared  to  several  others  which  are 
themselves  quite  unlike,  and  may  resemble  one  of  these  things 
in  one  respect  and  another  in  another,  and  in  some  respects 
again  may  differ  from  all  of  them,  he  would  acquire  a  faint, 
indeed,  and  indistinct  notion  of  sight,  but,  as  far  as  it  went,  not 
an  incorrect  one.  For  he  would  understand  that  sight  in  one 
respect  corresponds,  or  is  analogous,  to  smelling  and  hearing, 
inasmuch  as  it  extends  to  distant  objects  ;  and  again,  in  another 
respect,  to  touch,  inasmuch  as  it  gives  an  idea  of  shape  and 
size,  —  that  it  differs  from  each  of  these  respectively  in  the  cir- 
cumstance wherein  it  agrees  with  the  other,  and  that  it  differs 
in  many  points  from  both  :  so  that  by  interpreting  each  of 
these  analogies  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  reconcilable  with 
the  other,  he  would  be  using  the  best  means  to  avoid  misunder- 
standing either,  and  to  attain  the  most  perfect  knowledge  which 
his  natural  deficiency  would  allow.       For  if  you  attempted, 

*  See  King's  Discourse  on  rredestiuation. 


ON  APPARENT  CONTRADICTIONS  IN  SCRIPTURE.       209 

beyond  this,  to  give  him  any  distinct  and  precise  knowledge  of 
the  nature  of  light  and  colors,  you  would  be  more  likely  to 
confuse  and  mislead  than  to  instruct  him. 

The  circumstance  that  the  knowledge  conveyed  to  us  in 
Scripture,  in  many  cases,  is  not  merely  incomplete  in  degree, 
but,  being  conveyed  to  us  by  figures,  is  also  different  in  kind 
from  that  more  direct  and  perfect  knowledge  which  we  may 
hope  hereafter  to  attain,  is  alluded  to,  perhaps,  in  that  expres- 
sion of  Paul's  respecting  the  glorified  state,  —  "  whether  there 
be  knowledge,  it  shall  vanish  away."  ^  We  might  have  expected 
him,  perhaps,  to  promise  rather  an  increase  and  extension  of 
our  knowledge  ;  but  it  appeared  to  him,  probably,  that  the 
knowledge  we  now  possess  concerning  several  points  not  fully 
comprehensible  to  us  is  so  utterly  different  in  kind  from  that 
which  is  reserved  for  us,  that  the  change  might  more  properly 
be  called  an  entire  vanishing  of  the  notions  we  are  at  present 
able  to  form,  and  a  substitution  of  others  in  their  place.  In 
like  manner,  if  we  suppose  a  blind  man  who  had  been  instructed 
in  the  way  just  described  to  obtain  sight,  all  those  faint  ana- 
logical notions  of  seeing,  which  we  may  conceive  him  to  have 
formed,  would  fade  away  from  his  mind,  and  be  succeeded  by 
others  imcomparably  more  direct  and  clear.^ 

Meanwhile,  our  care  must  be,  during  our  state  of  trial  here 
below,  not  to  imagine  our  knowledge  more  complete  than  it  is, 
nor  to  expect  from  the  Scriptures  such  information  as  they 
were  not  meant  to  supply.^     "We  must  not  study  them  as  de- 


» 1  Cor.  xiii.  8-10. 

2  See  the  interesting  and  valuable  account  of  a  boy  born  blind,  and  couched  by 
Mr.  Cheselden,  extracted  from  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  by  Mr.  H.  Mayo, 
in  Ixis  Physiology,  p.  163. 

3  "  Has  the  reader  ever  attempted  to  state  to  himself  distinctly  what  he  under- 
stands by  the  term  revelation;  meaning,  a  revelation  of  the  divine  nature?  Kei- 
ther  the  voice,  the  vision,  the  dream,  nor  the  instinct  can  be  said  to  be  God. 
All  are  evidently  vehicles  and  modes  of  communicating  his  messages  to  man. 

18* 


210  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

signed  to  convey,  as  it  were,  in  terms  of  art,  the  speculative  truths 
of  philosophy ;  but  must  seek,  in  the  first  instance  at  least,  and 
with  the  greatest  diligence,  such  truths  as  are  relative  to  man, 
and  practical :  nor  must  we  allow  ourselves,  in  any  case,  to 
interpret  strongly  all  the  texts  which  seem  to  offer  themselves 
on  one  side,  while  we  explain  away  all  that  are  on  the  other 
side ;  as  if  on  the  ground  that  they  are  not  to  be  taken  literally, 
we  were  thence  authorized  to  affix  to  them  any  signification 
whatever  that  may  chance  to  suit  our  views  ;  but  we  must  en- 
deavor honestly  to  reconcile  Scripture  with  itself,  and  thus  to 
avail  ourselves  of  that  mode  of  instruction  which  our  divine 
Teacher  has  thought  best  for  us.  So  shall  we  be  enabled, 
though  divine  help,  to  avoid,  or  to  diminish,  many  of  the  diffi- 
culties which  presumptuous  speculators,  or  partial  and  preju- 
diced inquirers,  have  to  encounter  in  the  Scriptures  ;  and  we 
shall  find  them  "  able  to  make  us  wise  unto  salvation,  through 
faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 


*  Him  no  man  hath  seen  at  any  time.'  Suppose,  then,  we  wished  to  convey  a 
description  of  an  object  of  sight  to  one  boi-n  blind  (for  that  is  our  condition  in 
relation  to  the  divine  nature);  he  may  perhaps  be  made  to  receive  some  indis- 
tinct idea  of  it  through  his  sense  of  hearing;  and  the  vehicle  of  this  revelation, 
as  it  may  be  termed,  would  be  a  voice.  Some  contrivance  may  be  afterwards 
invented  which  should  convey  to  him  the  same  description,  by  submitting  to  his 
touch  figures  representing  it,  or,  as  is  done  in  some  asylums,  by  letters  and 
words  strongly  impressed,  so  as  to  be  distinctly  felt.  If  it  had  so  happened  that 
he  was  at  length  favored  with  the  gift  of  sight  (as  occurred  with  some  in  the 
miraculous  period  of  the  church),  that  same  description  might  be  set  before  his 
eyes  in  a  painting.  Meanwhile,  suppose  him  never  yet  to  have  witnessed  the 
object  itself  thus  variously  represented;  he  would  then  have  become  acquainted 
with  it  in  three  distinct  ways,  and  have  been  enabled  to  improve  and  to  apply 
his  knowledge  of  it  by  means  of  each;  still,  he  would  hardly  be  absurd  enough 
to  make  either  of  these  assertions: 

"  1.  That  the  sounds,  the  figures,  the  writing,  or  the  painting  were  the  very 
thing  described. 

"  2.  That  the  variety  in  the  mode  of  conveying  the  description  implied  any  cor- 
responding distinction  in  that  one  object,  the  idea  of  which  was  thus  variously 
communicated  to  him."— Hinds's  History  of  the  Eise  and  Progress  of  Christi- 
anity, Vol.  1.  pp.  295,  296. 


ON  APPARENT  CONTRADICTIONS  IN  SCRIPTURE.       211 


NOTE  TO  ESSAY  YIL 


Note  A  — Page  199. 

The  ancient  heathen  had  certain  sacred  rites  in  which  were  dis- 
closed, to  those  "  initiated,"  certain  secrets,  which  were  carefully  to 
be  kept  concealed  from  the  uninitiated  (a/iurjTot),  the  great  mass  of 
the  professors  of  the  religion.  The  apostle  naturally  makes  allusion 
to  these,  by  the  use  of  the  word  "mystery,"  to  denote  those  designs 
of  God's  providence,  and  those  doctrinal  truths,  which  had  been  kept 
concealed  from  mankind  '*  till  the  fulness  of  time  "  was  come,  "  but 
now  were  made  manifest"  to  believers.  And  he  frequently  adverts 
to  one  important  circumstance  in  the  Christian  mysteries,  which 
distinguishes  them  from  those  of  paganism  ;  namely,  that  while  these 
last  were  revealed  only  to  a  chosen  few,  the  gospel  mysteries,  on 
the  contrary,  were  made  known  to  all  who  would  listen  to  and  obey 
the  truth,  whether  Jew  or  Gentile,  bond  or  free,  barbarian  or  Greek. 
All  Christians  were  "  initiated "  (ovfxfxvcrTai^  as  one  of  the  ancient 
Fathers  calls  them),  and  those  only  remained  in  darkness  who  wilfully 
shut  their  eyes ;  "  if  our  gospel  be  1iid^  it  is  to  them  that  are  lost, 
whom  the  prince  of  this  world  hath  blinded." 

Now,  our  ordinary  use  of  the  word  "  mystery  "  conveys  the  notion 
of  something  that  we  cannot  understand  at  all,  and  which  it  is  fruitless 
to  inquire  into.  I  am  not  censuring  this  use  of  the  word ;  but  if  we 
interpret,  according  to  our  own  usage,  an  author  who  employs  it  dif- 
ferently, it  is  plain  we  shall  be  misled.  Both  we  and  the  sacred 
writers,  indeed,  understand  by  the  word,  something  hidden  from  one 
party  and  known  to  another  (for  we  suppose  all  mysteries  to  be 
known  to  God)  ;  but  there  is  this  difference,  —  that  we  use  the  word 
in  reference  to  the  party  from  whom  the  knowledge  is  withheld ;  the 
apostles,  in  reference  to  those  to  whom  the  knowledge  is  revealed. 
Such  an  expression  as,  "  this  is  a  mystery  to  us,"  conveys  to  us  the 
idea  that  it  is  something  we  do  not  and  can  not  understand ;  to  Paul 
it  would  convey  the  idea  that  it  is  something  which  "  now  is  made 
manifest,"  and  which  we  are  therefore  called  upon  to  contemplate  and 
study,  even  as  his  office  was  "  to  make  known  the  mystery  of  the  gos- 
pel." Not  that  he  meant  to  imply  that  we  are  able  fully  to  understand 


2 1 2  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

the  divine  dispensations ;  but  it  is  not  in  reference  to  this  their  in- 
scrutable character  that  he  calls  them  mysteries,  but  the  reverse ; 
they  are  reckoned  by  him  mysteries,  not  so  far  forth  as  they  are 
hidden  and  unintelligible,  but  so  far  forth  as  they  are  revealed  and 
explained. 

For  another  use  of  "  mystery,"  to  signify  a  symbolical  representa- 
tion, see  Parkhurst's  Lexicon. 

It  is  in  that  sense  that  in  the  second  of  the  post-communion  prayers 
the  bread  and  wine  are  called  "  holy  mysteries  ;  "  that  is,  emblems. 


ESSAY    VIII 


ON  THE  MODE   OF   CONVEYING  MORAL  PRECEPTS 
IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 

In  the  preceding  Essay  some  remarks  were  offered  relative 
to  the  methods  employed  for  communicating  as 

^       •'  Moral  precepts  of 

much  as  was  needful  to  be  known  concerning     the  New   Testa- 

,  .  ment    often     con- 

the   more   abstruse   doctrmes  of  our  religion ;     veyed  in  apparent 

,         ,  ,  .        7  •    .  •  1  contradictions. 

namely,  by  apparent  contradictions,  —  by  ex- 
pressions which,  if  taken  literally,  would  be  at  variance  with 
each  other ;  and  which,  consequently,  must  be  mutually  ex- 
plained and  modified  by  each  other,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
reconciled.  And  in  this  case  the  advantage  of  such  a  proced- 
ure is  evident ;  the  things  themselves  are  such  as  we  are  no 
more  capable  of  distinctly  and  fully  comprehending,  than  a 
blind  man  can  the  nature  of  light  and  colors.  Such  instruc- 
tion, therefore,  as  we  can  receive  concerning  them,  must  be 
necessarily  imparted  according  to  the  same  principles  by  which 
we  should  convey  to  the  blind  some  idea  of  sight ;  namely,  by 
employing  several  different  analogies,  each  of  which  may  serve 
to  correct  the  others,  and  all  of  which  in  conjunction  may  convey 
a  notion  as  nearly  approaching  to  the  reality  as  the  case  will 
permit. 

But  (as  was  observed  in  that  Essay)  in  the  inculcation  of 
moral  precepts  there  cannot  be  the  same  reason  for  employing 
this  method  as  there  is  in  doctrinal  instruction  respecting  in- 


214  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

scrutable  mysteries.  And  yet  there  are  not  a  few  directly 
practical  passages,  in  different  parts  of  the  New  Testament, 
which,  if  taken  literally,  and  in  their  full  force,  would  contra- 
dict each  other ;  and  such  apparent  discrepancies  there  are,  not 
only  between  the  writings  of  the  evangelists  and  the  apostolic 
epistles,  but  also  between  different  portions  of  our  Lord's  own 
discourses.  Not  only  is  Paul's  censure  of  that  man  as  "  worse 
than  an  infidel,"  who  neglects  to  "  provide  for  those  of  his  own 
household,"  at  variance  with  our  Lord's  declaration,  "  If  any 
man  hate  not  his  father  and  mother,  and  wife  and  children,  and 
all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple,"  if  both  be  under- 
stood literally,  and  without  limitation;  but  also,  according  to 
such  an  interpretation,  our  Lord's  own  precept  to  his  disciples 
to  "  let  their  light  shine  before  men,"  would  be  no  less  opposed 
to  his  command  that  their  prayers  and  alms  should  be  strictly 
concealed.  And  his  description,  again,  of  the  day  of  judgment, 
in  which  the  performance  or  neglect  of  the  works  of  charity 
seems  to  be  the  sole  ground  of  distinction  between  the  saved 
and  the  condemned,  is  apparently  opposed  not  only  to  the 
apostle's  declaration  "  by  grace  ye  are  saved,  through  faith,  and 
that  not  of  yourselves  ;  it  is  the  gift  of  God,"  and  to  number- 
less others  of  the  same  character,  but  also  to  the  literal  import 
of  Christ's  own  parting  declaration  to  his  disciples,  which  seems 
to  make  the  absence  or  presence  of  a  right  belief  the  only  point 
considered :  "  He  that  helieveth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved." 
And  many  other  like  instances  might  be  adduced  which  plainly 
show  that  the  system  of  instructing  by  apparent  contradictions 
is  not  confined  to  doctrinal,  but  extends  to  practical  points  ;  and 
that  in  both  cases  it  is  requisite  to  compare  and  balance,  as  it 
were,  against  each  other,  different  parts  of  Scripture,  if  we 
would  gain  a  correct  view  of  what  it  is  intended  to  convey.^ 

*  As  I  have  treated  of  subjects  nearly  allied  to  the  one  now  before  us  in  the  sec- 
ond, third,  and  fifth  Essays  of  the  First  Series,  it  may  be  worth  while  briefly  to  no- 
tice in  this  place  the  connection,  and  also  the  distinction,  between  those  and  the 


ON  THE  MODE  OF  CONVEYING  MORAL  PRECEPTS.      215 

§  I.  For  what  purpose,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  did  our 
Lord  and  his  inspired  followers  resort  to  this  Reasons  for  the 
method  of  instruction,  in  respect  of  those  practi-  rCrptlt 
cal  duties  which  are  not,  like  the  more  abstruse  »cai  views, 
points  of  faith,  beyond  the  reach  of  man's  faculties  ?  In  order 
to  answer  this  question,  it  will  be  necessary  to  revert  to  some 
considerations  which  have  been  formerly  suggested.^ 

Let  it  be  observed,  then,  that  it  was  no  part  of  the  scheme  of 
the  gospel  revelation  to  lay  down  anything  approaching  to  a 
complete  system  of  moral  precepts,  —  to  enumerate  everything 
that  is  enjoined  or  forbidden  by  our  religion ;  nor,  again,  to 
give  a  detailed  general  description  of  Christian  duty,  or  to 
delineate,  after  the  manner  of  systematic  ethical  writers,  each 
separate  habit  of  virtue  or  of  vice.  When  the  Mosaic  law  was 
brought  to  a  close  (a  law  of  which  we  have  no  Scripture  warrant 
for  supposing  that  any  part  was  intended  to  continue  in  force 
under  the  gospel  dispensation,  or  to  be  extended  to  the  Gen- 
tiles) —  when  this  law,  I  say,  was  brought  to  a  close,  no  other 
set  of  precise  rules  was  substituted  in  its  place.  New  and 
higher  motives  were  implanted ;  a  more  exalted  and  perfect 
example  was  proposed  for  imitation  ;  a  loftier  standard  of  mo- 
rality was  established ;  rewards  more  glorious,  and  punishments 
more  appalling,  were  held  out;  and  supernatural  aid  was 
bestowed ;  and  the  Christian,  with  these  incentives  and  these 
advantages,  is  left  to  apply,  for  himself,  in  each  case,  the 
principles  of  the  gospel.      He  is  left  to  act  at  his  own  dis- 

present  Essay.  I  was  speaking,  in  them,  of  a  peculiarity  (considering  Christi- 
anity as  compared  with  any  human  system)  in  the  motives  employed  by  the  sa- 
cred writers  for  producing  moral  conduct,  and  also  in  the  examples  (of  Jesus 
himself.  Essay  II.  and  III.,  and  of  children.  Essay  V.)  which  they  propose  for 
our  imitation  and  self-instruction.  At  present,  I  am  considering  their  mode  of 
conveying  to  us  the  precepts  of  morality.  In  all,  it  is  the  moral  instruction  of 
Scripture  that  I  have  been  treating  of;  but,  distinctly,  of  the  different  parts  of 
which  it  (and  indeed  all  complete  moral  instruction)  consists;  namely,  1st,  the 
motives  inculcated;  2dly,  the  examples  proposed;  3dly,  the  precepts  delivered. 
» Essay  V. 


216  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

cretion,  according  to  the  dictates  of  liis  conscience,  to  cultivate 
Christian  dispositions,  and  thus  to  be  "a  law  unto  himself." 
From  the  exact  regulations  under  which  the  Israelites,  when 
in  a  condition  analogous  to  childhood,  were  placed,  he  is  re- 
leased ;  not  that  he  may  be  under  a  less  strict  moral  restraint, 
but  that  he  may  attain,  under  the  gospel  system,  a  more  manly 
self-government,  a  higher  degree  of  moral  excellence ;  even 
as  the  precise  rules  and  strict  control  under  which  a  child  is 
placed,  are  gradually  relaxed  as  he  advances  towards  maturity ; 
not  on  the  ground  that  good  conduct  is  less  required  of  a  man 
than  of  a  child,  but,  on  the  contrary,  because  the  very  maturity 
of  age,  which  emancipates  him  from  the  trammels  of  childhood, 
renders  him  capable  of  regulating  his  conduct  for  himself  by 
his  own  judgment.  "  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord" 
(according  to  the  Prophet  Jeremiah,  cited  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews^,  "  when  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house 
of  Israel ;  not  according  to  the  covenant  which  I  made  with 
their  fathers  ....  for  this  is  the  covenant  which  I  will  make 
with  the  house  of  Israel  after  those  days,  saith  the  Lord :  I 
will  put  my  laws  into  their  mind,  and  write  them  in  their 
hearts."  And  hence  it  is,  probably,  that  the  Apostle  James 
(i.  25)  uses  the  expression  of  "the  perfect  law  of  liberty."^ 

The  system,  then,  according  to  which  the  Christian's  life  is 
to  be  regulated,  is  one  under  which,  not  a  less,  but  a  greater 
degree  of  moral  perfection  is  expected  of  him  ;  but  which  sub- 
stitutes sublime  principles  for  exact  rules.  It  is  this  system 
the  apostle  sometimes  calls  "  faith,"  —  sometimes  "  the  law  of 
faith,"  to  distinguish  it,  not  from  good  works,  but  from  the  law 
of  Moses.  It  is  called  the  law  of  faith,  not  because  Christians 
are  not  (which  he  assures  us  they  are)  to  stand  before  Christ's 
tribunal  "  to  give  an  account  of  the  things  done  in  the  body," 
but  because  their  moral  conduct  is  required  to  spring  from 
faith,  —  from  faith  in  the  redeeming  mercy  of  God,  "  who  was  in 
»  See  Introductory  Lessons  on  Morals. 


ON  THE  MODE  OF  CONVEYING  MORAL  PRECEPTS.      217 

Christ  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself,"  and  the  devout 
gratitude  which  is  the  natural  result  of  this,  —  from  faith  in  the 
divine  holiness  and  purity  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  consequent 
desire  to  tread  in  Ids  steps  whose  life  is  our  example,  —  from 
that  faith  in  his  promised  rewards  which  leads  to  the  endeavor 
after  such  a  preparation  of  ourselves  as  may  qualify  us  to  dwell 
"  forever  with  the  Lord," —  from  faith  in  his  promised  presence 
with  us,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,  by  his  Spirit  "  which 
worketh  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure."  ^ 

Such  a  system,  then,  it  was  necessary  so  to  develop  that  its 
true  character  might  not  be  mistaken.  Since  Christians  were 
not  to  be  guided  by  a  precise  code  of  laws,  it  was  necessary  to 
guard  them  carefully  against  expecting  one.  And  even  during 
our  Lord's  own  ministry,  before  the  "  law  of  faith  "  was  per- 
fectly laid  down  (the  objects  of  that  faith  being  but  faintly 
and  partially  revealed),  still  it  was  needful,  even  at  the  very 
outset,  that  men  should  not  be  led,  or  left,  to  suppose,  that 
either  a  collection  of  exact  rules,  or  a  system  of  moral  philoso- 
phy, was  about  to  be  proposed  to  their  acceptance,  —  that  either 
the  Mosaic  law  was  to  remain  in  force  as  to  the  literal  observ- 
ance of  its  several  precepts,  extended  by  the  addition  of  others, 
or  that  any  corresponding  system,  any  fresh  enumeration  of 
specific  acts  forbidden  and  enjoined,  was  to  be  introduced  in 
the  room  of  it.  And  care  was  the  more  necessary  on  this 
point,  both  because  man  in  general  is  more  ready  to  receive 
even  a  burdensome  law,  of  this  character,  than  to  be  left  to 
his  own  w^atchful  and  responsible  discretion  in  acting  up  to 
certain  principles,  and  also  because  the  Jews  in  particular  had 
been  accustomed  to  precise  regulations,  and  nice  distinctions  as 
to  specific  acts,  even  far  beyond  what  the  written  law  of  Moses 
had  laid  down. 

And  yet  our  Lord's  hearers  had  need  of  some  moral  instruc- 

1  Essay  HI.  (First  Series.) 
19 


218  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

tion.  It  was  important  that  illustrations  should  be  afforded 
them  of  the  application  of  the  general  principles  of  the  new 
religion  to  each  particular  point ;  it  was  desirable  to  enforce 
such  duties  as  were  especially  neglected,  and  to  point  out  the 
comparative  degrees  of  importance  of  such  as  had  been  unduly 
estimated  :  many  prevailing  faults  and  prejudices  called  for 
correction,  and  it  was  needful,  universally,  to  guard  against 
the  supposition  that  the  new  covenant  was  designed  to  substi- 
tute faith  for  virtuous  practice,  and  to  save  those  who  should 
"  call  Jesus  Lord,"  while  they  continued  "  workers  of  iniquity." 
And  as  all  this  was  to  be  accomplished  in  the  course  of  a  short 
ministry,  and  the  instruction  was  to  be  conveyed  to  men  for 
the  most  part  of  untutored  and  unreflective  minds,  it  was  the 
more  important  that  the  mode  of  conveying  it  should  be  as 
striking  and  permanently  impressive  as  possible  ;  with  a  con- 
stant caution,  at  the  same  time,  against  the  mistake  into  which 
the  hearers  were  ever  liable  to  fall,  —  that  of  imagining  that 
they  were  to  receive  certain  definite  precepts,  and  satisfying 
themselves  with  a  literal  obedience  to  each. 

Something  peculiar,  then,  may  be  expected  in  the  mode  of 
conveying  moral  instructions,  when  the  object  proposed  com- 
prehended all  the  circumstances  just  mentioned,  —  when  it  re- 
quired that,  besides  being  suited  to  the  capacity  and  to  the 
moral  condition  of  the  hearer,  the  precepts  should  at  the  same 
time  be  both  forcibly  impressive,  and  also  such  as  to  exclude 
the  idea  of  any  intention  to  lay  down  a  complete  moral  code. 

§  II.  In  the  moral  lessons  of  the  gospel,  accordingly,  three 
peculiarities  especially  may  be  observed,  which 
ai/omp^ilnceiuh     havc  a  reference  to  the  circumstances  I  have 
Sher  iZo^sibS     noticed,  and  which  may  be  explained  by  them. 
Tm  OTtant'  ""^  """         First,  the  precepts  are  often  apparently  con- 
tradictory to  each  other. 
Secondly,  they  are  often  such  that  a  literal  compliance  with 


ON  THE  MODE  OF  CONVEYING  MORAL  PRECEPTS.      219 

them  would  be,  in  many  cases,  either  impossible,  or,  at  least, 
extravagant  and  irrational. 

And,  thirdly,  this  literal  compliance  would  in  many  instances 
amount  to  so  insignificant  and  unimportant  a  point  of  duty,  as 
could  not  be  supposed  deserving  of  a  distinct  inculcation  for  its 
own  sake.  And  two,  or  all  three,  of  these  characters  may 
sometimes  be  found  to  meet  in  one  single  precept. 

The  reason  of  all  this  is  clear,  from  the  principles  that  have 
been  already  laid  down  :  every  mode  is  employed  of  warning 
the  hearers  against  satisfying  themselves  with  an  observance 
of  these  precepts  according  to  the  letter,  in  doing  or  abstaining 
from  some  particular  action.  For,  a  literal  compliance  with 
precepts  which,  literally  taken,  are  inconsistent,  would  be  im- 
possible. Where  that  literal  compliance  would  be  wrong  or  ab- 
surd, it  is  manifest  it  could  not  be  intended ;  where  it  would 
be  trifling,  it  is  manifest  that  it  cannot  be  all  that  is  intended. 
And  thus  the  disciples  were  driven,  if  they  were  sincerely 
desirous  to  learn,  and  would  interpret  rationally  and  candidly 
what  they  heard,  to  perceive  that  such  precepts  as  I  am  speak- 
ing of  were  designed  to  explain  and  to  enforce  those  general 
principles  on  which  men  are  to  regulate  their  conduct ;  while 
the  very  circumstance  that  such  instructions  excite  some  degree 
of  surprise,  and  evidently  call  for  careful  reflection,  renders 
them  the  more  likely  to  make  a  lasting  impression. 

Many  instances  of  each  description  will  readily  occur  to 
most  persons.     I  will  advert  to  a  very  few. 

When  Jesus  tells  his  disciples  to  pray  and  to  give  alms  in 
secret,  and  not  to  let  their  "  left  hand  know  what  their  right 
hand  doeth,"  and  yet  exhorts  them  to  "  let  their  light  shine  be- 
fore men,"  it  is  plain  from  these  precepts,  taken  in  conjunction, 
and  explained  by  each  other,  that  his  design  was  to  discounte- 
nance an  ostentatious  motive,  but  to  leave  to  our  own  conscien- 
tious discretion  the  mode  of  performing  each  action  on  each 


220  WHATLLY'S  ESSAYS. 

occasion.  When  the  publicity  of  our  alms  and  of  our  devotions 
appears  likely  to  "glorify  God,"  and  to  benefit  men  by  the 
influence  of  a  good  example,  the  principles  of  the  gospel  pre- 
scribe that  publicity ;  in  cases  where  it  tends  only  to  the  grati- 
fication of  our  own  vanity,  and  especially  when  we  have  reason 
to  fear  that  we  may  be  too  much  actuated  by  the  desire  of 
men's  praise,  then  concealment  is  to  be  preferred. 

Again,  when  men's  future  destiny  is  described  in  one  place 
determined  by  their  performance  or  omission  of  the  social 
duties,  —  in  another,  by  the  government  of  the  tongue,  —  in 
another,  by  belief  and  baptism  alone,  —  in  another  (the  par- 
able of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus),  apparently  by  the  luxuries 
enjoyed,  or  privations  undergone  in  the  present  life,  —  we  may 
easily  learn,  by  comparing  and  balancing  together  all  these 
passages,  that  no  good  works  of  man,  not  springing  from  belief 
in  the  gospel,  can  tend  to  salvation  :  yet  that  professions  of 
faith  in  Christ  are  but  a  mockery  of  him  when  unaccompanied 
with  active  benevolence  towards  those  whom  he  calls  his  breth- 
ren —  that  we  shall  be  condemned  or  justified  by  our  words  as 
well  as  by  our  actions  —  and  that  those  who  set  their  hearts  on 
the  good  things  of  this  world,  and  lay  up  no  treasures  in  heaven, 
can  have  no  reasonable  expectation  of  heavenly  rewards. 

Again,  the  injunction  in  the  passage  before  cited,  to  "hate 
father  and  mother,"  etc.,  if  we  be  Christ's  disciples,^  is  not  only, 

1  It  may  be  observed,  by  the  way,  what  an  evidence  to  the  truth  of  Christianity 
is  aflTorded  by  this  declaration  of  our  Lord,  together  with  his  warning  that  every 
one  who  would  be  his  disciple  must  be  ready  to  "  take  up  his  cross  and  follow 
him,"  and  must,  in  imitation  of  a  man  designing  to  build,  and  of  a  king  about  to 
make  war,  coolly  calculate  beforehand  whether  he  has  resources  and  resolution 
sufficient  to  go  through  with  the  enterprise.  All  this  constitutes  so  uninviting  a 
doctrine,  that  we  may  be  sure  no  one  would  have  preached  it  who  had  any 
object  in  view  except  that  of  teaching  the  truth. 

We  have  here,  therefore,  one  of  those  many  internal  evidences  of  our  religion, 
which  may  be  made  completely  intelligible  to  the  unlearned  Christian,  For, 
common  sense  may  convince  any  one,  that,  had  Jesus  been  either  an  impostor  or 
an  enthusiast,  he  would  never  have  entertained,  and  taught  others  to  entertain, 


ON  THE  MODE  OF  CONVEYING  MORAL  PRECEPTS.      221 

if  taken  literally,  at  variance  with  the  exhortations  to  univer- 
sal benevolence,  and  to  Paul's  command  to  provide  for  our 
families,  but  also  to  the  plainest  dictates  of  conscience  and  of 
common  sense.  This,  then,  is  an  instance  which  illustrates  at 
once  two  of  .the  principles  above  laid  down.  It  is  plain,  there- 
fore, that  such  a  precept  could  not  be  meant  to  be  understood 
and  obeyed  literally ;  and  if  there  could  be  any  doubt  in  what 
manner  Christ  intended  it  should  be  obeyed,  he  himself  has 
given  us  in  another  place  an  explanation  of  it :  "  He  that  loveth 
father  or  mother  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me ;  and  he 
that  loveth  son  or  daughter  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of 
me."  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  what  is  intended  by  the 
command  to  hate  the  objects  of  our  strongest  regard,  is,  that 
the  things  of  the  greatest  importance  to  our  happiness,  and 
which  have  the  strongest  hold  on  our  affections,  must  be  ac- 
counted by  us  as  nothing,  in  comparison  with  our  devotedness 
to  Christ ;  and  that  whenever  any  of  these  objects  shall  chance 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  our  obedience  to  him,  we  must  be  ready 
to  resign  it  without  a  murmur. 

Sacrifices  of  this  kind  were  doubtless  much  more  frequently 
called  for  in  the  first  ages  of  the  church  than  they  are  now ; 
because  not  only  many  were  called  on  to  abandon  their  homes 
and  friends,  and  devote  themselves  to  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel  in  distant  countries,  but  it  also  frequently  happened  that 
men's  nearest  and  dearest  connections  were  at  variance  with 
them  respecting  the  religion  of  Christ ;  and  that  they  had  to 
suffer  persecution,  or  at  least  censure  and  contempt,  from  those 
very  friends  whose  good  opinion  and  regard  they  had  been  the 
most  accustomed  to  prize :  "  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  send 

such  a  view  of  his  religion.  He  would  have  used  all  means  to  invite  men  to  be- 
come his  disciples,  instead  of  deterring  them;  and  would  either  himself  have 
overlooked,  or  else  concealed  from  the  people,  the  difF.culties  to  be  encountered 
by  those  who  should  embrace  the  gospel,  instead  of  pointing  them  out,  and  ear- 
nestly dwelling  upon  them. 

19* 


222  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

peace  on  earth  ;  I  tell  you  nay,  but  rather  division  :  the 
father  shall  be  divided  against  the  son,  and  the  son  against  the 
father ; a  man's  foes  shall  be  they  of  his  own  household." 

It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  a  man  must  have  been,  in  such 
circumstances,  very  strongly  tempted  to  shrink  from  the  bold 
and  open  profession  of  his  faith,  and  to  concede  too  much  to 
the  authority  of  those  around  him  ;  and  accordingly  we  read 
of  many  leading  men  among  the  Jews  who  sought  to  com- 
promise the  matter,  by  outwardly  renouncing  the  opinions 
they  inwardly  held,  —  "  who  believed  in  Jesus,  but  secretly," 
for  fear  of  being  "  cast  out  of  the  synagogue  ;  for  they  loved 
the  praise  of  men  more  than  the  praise  of  God.*' 

There  is  not,  however,  nor  ever  will  be,  any  time  or  any 
country  in  which  the  sincere  Christian  is  not  liable  to  be  called 
upon  to  make  some  sacrifices  in  the  cause  of  Christ  —  to  do, 
or  to  forego,  or  undergo,  something  which  occasions  a  painful 
struggle  to  his  nature  ;  and  this  our  Lord  exhorts  us  deliber- 
ately to  prepare  for,  and,  if  we  would  be  his  disciples,  to  give 
him  a  most  decided  and  strong  preference  to  every  object  that 
may  stand  in  the  way  of  our  faith  or  of  our  obedience  to  him. 
This  he  in  another  place  very  strongly  enforces  in  a  figurative 
form  of  expression,  which,  also,  common  sense  teaches  us,  it 
would  be  absurd  to  understand  literally  ;  saying,  "  If  thine  eye 
offend  thee,  pluck  it  out,  and  cast  it  from  thee ; "  meaning  thereby 
that  whatever  offends  us  as  Christians,  —  that  is,  stands  in  our 
way,  and  obstructs  our  progress  in  following  our  Master's  steps, 
though  it  may  be  as  dear  to  us  as  an  eye  or  a  right  hand,  — 
must  be  renounced,  thoroughly  and  heartily  and  cheerfully,  for 
his  sake,  if  we  expect  that  he  should  own  us  as  his  disciples. 

Now  this  precept  of  plucking  out  an  eye,  or  cutting  off  a 
right  hand,  is  far  from  hard  to  be  understood,  as  to  the  spirit 
and  intention  of  it,  and  the  disposition  meant  to  be  recom- 
mended ;  and  when  it  is  understood,  its  effects  will  be,  on  those 


ON  THE  MODE  OF  CONVEYING  MOEAL  PRECEPTS.      223 

who  sincerely  study  to  comply  with  it,  exactly  what  our  Lord 
designed.  They  cannot  in  this  case  satisfy  their  conscience  by 
a  literal  compliance  with  it  in  the  performance  of  any  specific 
act ;  and,  consequently,  will  the  more  naturally  be  led  to  cul- 
tivate that  frame  of  mind,  and  study  to  adopt  that  principle  of 
thorough  devotedness  to  Christ,  which  he  meant  to  recommend. 

Again,  in  inculcating  the  duty  of  gentleness  and  patience 
under  provocation,  he  says,  "If  any  man  smite  thee  on  the 
right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  left  also  ;  if  any  man  will  take 
away  thy  cloak,  let  him  have  thy  coat  also  ;  if  any  man  compel 
thee  to  go  a  mile,  go  with  him  twain ;  "  in  which  it  is  evident 
that  his  meaning  was,  not  the  mere  literal  performance  of 
those  specific  actions  mentioned,  but  the  cultivation  of  a  mild 
and  long-suffering  temper.  The  strong  way  in  which  he  de- 
livered those  precepts  —  the  striking  and  often  paradoxical 
illustrations  which  he  gave  of  them  —  had  the  effect  of  making 
a  more  lively  impression  on  the  hearers'  minds,  and  at  the 
same  time  guarded  them,  as  I  have  just  before  observed,  against 
supposing  that  it  was  enough  to  perform,  literally,  the  particu- 
lar actions  mentioned,  without  adopting  the  principle  of  action 
which  he  was  illustrating.  This  last  instance,  again,  combines 
two  of  the  circumstances  above  mentioned:  the  mere  literal 
observance  of  the  precept  would  not  only  be  in  many  cases 
irrational,  but  also  manifestly  insufficient,  and  would  fall  far 
short  of  what  is  meant  to  be  inculcated ;  and  hence  a  candid 
hearer  is  the  more  immediately  led  to  understand  that  obedience 
to  it  implies  not  the  bare  performance  of  this  or  that  particular 
action,  but  the  careful  cultivation  of  a  certain  habit  of  action. 

The  same  observations  will  apply  to  our  Lord's  precept 
against  choosing  "  the  most  honorable  seats  at  feasts ;  "  and  his 
exhortation  to  men  to  occupy  a  lower  place  than  they  have 
a  just  title  to.  He  did  indeed  intend  that  his  rule  respecting 
good  manners  should  be  literally  observed,  since  good  manners 


224  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

is  a  part  of  good  morals  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  this  literal  com- 
pliance was  the  least  part  of  what  he  designed,  and  that  he 
took  this  method  of  inculcating,  generally,  a  caution  against 
arrogance  and  self-exaltation. 

Universally,  indeed,  he  was  accustomed  to  illustrate  what- 
ever principle  he  had  in  view  by  some  particular  instance, 
knowing  that  this  would  take  better  hold  on  men's  attention, 
and  be  more  surely  fixed  in  their  memory,  than  if  he  had  con- 
fined himself  to  the  mere  general  maxim ;  and  that  would  be 
Tery  easy  for  any  one,  after  being,  by  this  exemplification,  put 
in  possession  of  the  general  maxim,  to  extend  and  apply  it,  for 
himself,  to  every  case  that  might  occur,  supposing  him  to  have 
the  sincere  disposition  to  do  so  without  which  no  instruction 
can  avaiL 

Thus,  when  he  was  called  upon  to  explain  what  kind  of 
neighborly  love  we  ought  to  show,  and  towards  whom,  he  illus- 
trates his  meaning  by  relating  the  parable  of  a  man  who  "  fell 
among  thieves,"  and  he  concludes  his  instruction  by  saying, 
"  Gro  and  do  thou  likewise ; "  which  exhortation  no  one  can  be 
so  stupid,  if  he  be  not  also  perverse,  as  to  interpret  by  the 
letter,  as  meaning  merely  that  when  he  might  chance  to  meet 
with  a  traveller  thus  circumstanced,  he  should  relieve  him,  and 
that  precisely  such  a  case  as  that  in  the  parable  was  all  that 
was  contemplated.  The  interpretation  of  "  Go  and  do  thou 
likewise  "  was  clear  enough,  to  any  one  who  wished  to  under- 
stand it,  as  signifying  that  we  are  to  regard  every  one  as  a 
neighbor  to  whom  we  have  an  opportunity  of  doing  service,  and 
are  to  be  ready  to  perform  the  kind  offices  of  a  neighbor  to- 
wards him. 

But,  as  I  have  said,  our  Lord  chose  not  only  to  illustrate  his 
general  maxim  by  some  particular  exemplifica-       instance  of  the 
tion,  but,  also,  in  order  to  make  it  more  clear     ^*^'"''^' 
to  his  hearers  that  this  was  his  object,  —  that  the  instances  ad- 


ON  THE  MODE  OF  CONYEYIXG  MORAL  PKECEPTS.      225 

duced  were  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  general  rule,  —  it 
happened  very  frequently,  as  in  the  case  of  some  of  the  illus- 
trations just  mentioned,  that  he  selected  by  choice  such  as  were 
in  themselves  the  smallest  and  most  insignificant  instances  of 
the  rule.  Thus,  when  he  wished  to  impress  on  his  disciples 
in  the  most  forcible  manner  the  duty  of  being  ready  to  serve, 
and  perform  kind  offices  for  one  another,  he  taught  them  by  an 
action^  by  himself  condescending  to  wash  their  feet,  and  after- 
wards telling  them,  "  Ye  ought  also  to  wash  one  another's  ie,eiJ^ 
This,  it  is  well  known,  was,  from  the  peculiar  circumstances  of 
the  age  and  country,  one  of  the  chief  refreshments  to  travellers  ; 
this  particular  instance,  consequently,  was  chosen  as  affi^rding 
an  easy  and  familiar  illustration  of  the  general  disposition  he 
designed  to  inculcate,  —  a  readiness  to  perform  all  manner  of 
kind  offices  for  one  another.  Now  if  the  particular  office  of 
kindness  selected  by  him  had  been  one  of  the  more  important 
services  of  life,  there  might  have  been  the  more  danger  of  their 
supposing  that  his  precept  was  meant  to  extend  only  to  that 
particular  service  mentioned ;  whereas  this  was  guarded  against 
by  his  particularizing  one  of  the  smallest :  when  he  said  to  them, 
"  Ye  ought  to  wash  one  another's  feet,"  they  could  not  have  a 
doubt  that  the  precept  was  meant  to  extend  to  more  than  that 
one  point  of  hospitality,  and  to  comprehend  a  general  disposi- 
tion to  befriend  one  another. 

§  in.     To  those,  then,  who  are  sincerely  desirous  of  instruc- 
tion, and  wilhng  to  use  care  and  diligence  in 

The  mode  of  in- 

seeking  it,  and  in  practically  applying  what  they     etruction  adopted 

,  .         .,,    .  ,  T/T«       1  1  Bufficient    for    the 

learn,  it  will,  m  most  cases,  be  no  dimcult  task  to     candid  and  dm- 
ascertain  what  principles  those  are  which  our    ^^°** 
Lord  and  his  apostles  intended,  on  each  occasion,  to  inculcate, 
and  in  what  manner  Christians  are  required  to  exempHfy  them 
in  their  lives. 


226  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

If  we  first  examine  the  whole  of  each  passage,  so  as  to  un- 
derstand the  occasion  on  which  any  precept  was  delivered,  and 
to  what  persons,  and  under  what  circumstances ;  and  if  we  are 
also  careful  to  compare  different  (and,  especially,  apparently  in- 
consistent) passages  together,  —  so  interpreting  each  as  it  is 
explained,  or  limited,  or  confirmed,  or  extended,  or  otherwise 
modified  by  the  rest,  —  we  shall  be  employing  those  means  for 
ascertaining  aright  the  sense  of  God's  word  which  common 
prudence  would  prescribe,  which  doubtless  were  intended  to 
be  employed  in  such  an  inquiry,  and  which,  we  may  trust, 
by  God's  grace  will  not  be  employed  in  vain. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  inattentive  and  the  uncandid,  those 
For  the  opposite     wlio  read  the  Scriptures  without  diligent  study, 
'vouY/hlvYbcen     ^r  with  a  study  only  to  find  confirmations  of 
Bufficient.  their  preconceived  notions,  and  vindications  of 

their  own  conduct,  —  such  could  not  have  been  secured  from 
error,  even  by  any  other  mode  of  instruction  that  could  have  been 
adopted.  Let  it  not  be  objected,  therefore,  to  the  method  pursued 
by  our  Lord  and  his  followers,  that  it  affords  an  opening,  for 
such  as  are  so  disposed,  to  escape  from  any  doctrines  or  duties 
they  may  object  to,  and  to  model  others  according  to  their  own 
inclinations,  by  dwelling  on  and  enforcing  literally  such  texts 
as  suit  their  purpose,  and  explaining  away  the  rest.  The  most 
precise  and  detailed  precepts  would  have  been  no  less  success- 
fully evaded  by  the  same  persons.  They  would  easily  have 
found  some  contrivance,  when  they  were  so  disposed,  to  "  make 
the  word  of  God  of  non-effect,  by  their  tradition." 

And  the  most  copious  and  philosophical  system  of  ethics 
would  have  proved  no  better  safeguard  against  the  devices  of  a 
corrupt  heart.  Moral  treatises  afford  no  substitute  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  discretion  and  of  candor ;  philosophy  cannot  teach  its 
own  application ;  on  the  contrary,  such  studies  are  useful  to 
those  only  who  employ  that  good  sense  and  sincerity  of  inten- 


ON  THE  MODE  OF  CONVEYING  MORAL  PRECEPTS.      227 

tion,  in  bringing  them  into  practice  in  the  details  of  life.  It  is 
not  enough  (as  the  most  illustrious  of  the  ancient  moralists  has 
observed)  ^  to  lay  down,  that,  in  each  department  of  conduct,  vir- 
tue consists  in  the  medium  between  an  excess  and  a  deficiency  ; 
it  still  remains  to  be  decided,  in  each  single  instance,  where 
this  medium  is  to  be  placed ;  and  as  the  determination  of  this 
is  necessarily  left  to  the  judgment  and  conscience  of  the  indi- 
vidual, so  any  one  whose  moral  judgment  is  not  incorrupt,  and 
who  is  seeking,  not  to  improve  his  character,  but  to  vindicate 
it,  may  easily  find  means,  first  to  represent,  and  afterwards  to 
believe,  his  own  conduct  to  be  exactly  the  right  medium.  For 
the  maxim  laid  down  in  another  place  by  the  philosopher  just 
alluded  to  for  applying  his  own  rules,  is  one  which  the  gener- 
ality of  men  completely  reverse.  He  tells  each  man  to  observe 
to  which  of  the  two  extremes  he  is,  in  each  point,  most  prone 
by  his  own  natural  disposition,  and  to  regard  that  as  (rela- 
tively to  him)  the  worse  extreme  of  the  two  ;  being  the  one  into 
which  he  is  the  more  liable  to  fall.  The  common  practice,  on 
the  contrary,  is  for  each  to  regard  (as  indeed,  is  very  natural), 
that  as  the  worse  extreme  to  which  he  has  the  less  tendency, 
and  to  look  with  less  abhorrence  on  each  fault,  in  proportion  as 
it  is  the  more  congenial  to  his  own  inclinations. 

Without  vigilant  and  candid  self-examination,  then,  no  sys- 
tem of  moral  instruction  that  could  have  been  devised  would 
have  been  practically  available ;  and  with  this,  the  instructions 
afforded  in  the  gospel,  will,  through  divine  help,  prove  sufficient. 
There  are  two  objects,  neither  of  which  a  man  will  usually  fail  to 
attain,  who  zealously  and  steadily  seeks  it :  the  one  is,  the  knowl- 
edge of  what  in  each  case  he  ought  to  do  ;  the  other  is,  a  plaus- 
ible excuse  for  doing  as  he  is  inclined.  The  latter  of  these, 
the  carnally-minded  might  find  in  any  set  of  precepts  or  moral 

*  Arist.  Eth.  Nicom.    Book  VI.  chap.  i. 


228  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

instructions  that  could  have  been  framed ;  the  former,  the 
spiritually -minded  will  not  fail  to  obtain  in  the  gospel. 

Only  let  him  not  seek  in  it  for  what  he  will  not  find  there, 
—  precise  and  minute  directions  for  every  case  that  can  occur ; 
or  a  set  of  insulated  maxims  which  admit  of  being  taken  away, 
as  it  were,  from  the  context,  and  interpreted  and  applied  with- 
out any  reference  to  the  rest  of  Scripture ;  or  for  a  general 
detailed  description  of  moral  duties. 

But  he  will  find  there  the  most  pure  and  sublime  motives 
inculcated ;  the  noblest  principles  instilled  ;  the  most  bold  and 
uncompromising,  yet  sober  and  rational  tone  of  morality  main- 
tained ;  the  most  animating  examples  proposed ;  and,  above  all, 
the  most  efiectual  guidance  and  assistance  and  defence  pro- 
vided, even  that  of  the  Spirit  of  truth,  who  will  enable  us 
duly  to  profit  by  the  teaching  of  his  inspired  servants,  that  we 
"may  have  our  fruit  unto  holiness,  and  the  end  everlasting 
life." 


ESSAY    IX 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT. 

Those  things  which  God's  most  favored  servants  under  the 
old  dispensation  —  which  "  many  prophets  and 

Indistinct  notions 

kings  had  in  vain  desired  to  see  and  hear,"  the     entertained  at  first 

IT,  .         T  •  by  the  disciples  of 

disciples  01  Jesus  had  been  permitted  to  wit-  the  character  of 
ness.  They  had  seen  the  man  whom  "  God  had 
anointed  with  the  Holy  Ghost, "  ^  and  "  given  it  unto  him  not 
by  measure ;  "  ^  the  •'  image  of  the  invisible  God, "  ^  "  whom 
no  man  hath  seen  at  any  time,"  *  but  whom  "  the  only-begotten 
Son  had  declared  unto  them, "  ^  "  being  the  express  image  of 
his  person. "  ®  Imperfect  and  indistinct,  indeed,  —  perhaps  we 
may  say  confused,  —  must  have  been  the  notions  they  enter- 
tained respecting  the  mysterious  Being  with  w^hom  they  had 
been  so  long  holding  intercourse.  Such  must  be  our  no- 
tions also  concerning  him,  unless  they  be  erroneous ;  for  the 
ideas  we  form  on  a  subject  surpassing  the  powers  of  our  pres- 
ent minds,  and  which  Scripture  has  but  indistinctly  revealed, 
cannot  be,  at  once,  char  and  correct.  The  disciples,  however, 
had,  during  our  Lord's  abode  with  them,  even  more  imperfect 
notions  respecting  him  than  they  were  afterward  taught  to 
form.  He  had  "  many  things  to  say  unto  them  which,  as  yet, 
they  could  not  bear."     But  they  "  knew  and  were  sure  that  he 

1  Acts  X.  38.  2  John  iii.  34.  3  Col.  i.  15. 

4  1Johniv.  12;aIso  Johni.  18.  5  John  i.  18.  6  Heb.  i.  3. 

20 


230  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

was  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God,"  and  that  "  he  had 
the  words  of  eternal  life  ; "  and  they  had  latterly  been  further 
taught  that  they  were  not  to  regard  him  as  merely  bearing  the 
commission  of  the  Most  High,  like  the  prophets  of  old,  nor 
yet  as  merely  some  being  of  a  superhuman  nature,  whether  a 
creature,  or  (according  to  the  presumptuous  fancies  which 
afterwards  prevailed)  some  -^non,  or  emanation  from  the  De- 
ity, and  partaking  of  the  divine  nature  ;  ^  for  when  asked  by 
Philip,  who  probably  was  disposed  to  entertain  some  such  no- 
tion, to  show  them  the  Father,  he  replied,  "  Have  I  been  so 
long  with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known  me,  Phihp  ?  He 
that  hath  seen  me,  hath  seen  the  Father ;  and  how  sayest  thou 
Show  us  the  Father  ?  Believest  thou  not  that  I  am  in  the 
Father,  and  the  Father  in  me  ?^  The  words  that  I  speak  unto 
you  I  speak  not  of  myself ;  but  the  Father  that  dwelleth  in  me 
he  doeth  the  works.  Believe  me  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and 
the  Father  in  me  ;  or  else  believe  me  for  the  very  works'  sake  " 
(John  xiv.). 

1  The  Gnostics  {that  is,  men  of"  science,  falsely  so  called," — men  claiming,  in 
the  title  they  assumed,  to  be  emphatically  such  as  "  knew  the  gospel  ")  taught 
the  doctrine  of  successive  emanations  ("  endless  genealogies  "  alluded  to  by  Paul) 
from  the  Deity  (whom  they  call  the  "  Fulness  "),  and  one  from  another,  of  these 
celestial  beings,  in  whom  they  personified  many  of  the  Scripture  terms  relat- 
ing to  the  character  or  the  dispensations  of  the  Most  High;  such  as  Logos 
(the  Word),  of  whom  they  regarded  Christ  as  an  incarnation;  Phds  (Light), 
feigned  to  have  been  incarnate  in  John  the  Baptist ;  Aletheia  (Truth) ;  Zoe  (Life) ; 
Monogenes  (only-begotten),  and  others.  Without  some  acquaintance  with  this 
tissue  of  impious  absurdity,  it  is  impossible  to  understand  fully  the  opening  of 
John's  Gospel.  —  See  Hinds's  History  of  the  Eise  and  early  Progress  of  Christi- 
anity, Vol.  n.  p.  49. 

Paul's  expressions  also,  "  In  Him  dwelleth  all  ihe  fulness  of  the  Godhead  bod- 
ily," "  It  hath  pleased  the  Father  that  in  Him  should  all  fulness  dwell,"  have 
reference,  probably,  to  the  same  heresy. 

2  This  mode  of  expression  seems  to  have  been  employed,  as  it  constantly  is,  by 
our  Lord,  to  guard  his  hearers  against  the  notion  of  a  local  Deity,  —  against 
literally  attributing  place  to  the  divine  mind.  Thus  he  says,  "  Abide  in  me,  and 
I  in  you;  "  and,  "  The  same  dwelleth  in  me,  and  I  in  him,  "  etc. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPHIIT.  231 

§  I.  Well  therefore  might  the  disciples,  when  thus  far  taught, 
anticipate  with  grief  and  dismay  the  approaching 
loss  of  their  Divine  Master,  —  the  destruction       •P'-omise  of  jesus 

'  to  send   the  Cora- 

of  "  the  temple  of  his  body,"  and  the  withdraw-     f^^er,  not  limited 

^  •'  to    the    first    age, 

ing  of  this  "  manifestation  of  God  in  the  flesh,"  nor  relating  to  an 
with  which  they  had  been  so  long  favored ;  and  principle, 
he  most  tenderly  sets  himself  to  relieve  their 
fears  and  sorrows,  by  assuring  them  of  his  speedy  return  to  abide 
with  them  for  ever :  "  I  go  away,  and  come  again  unto  you :  a 
little  while  and  ye  shall  not  see  me,  and  again  a  little  while  and 
ye  shall  see  me."  It  was  not,  indeed,  the  bodily  presence  of  their 
Master  in  the  flesh  that  they  were  to  look  for  as  continuing 
with  them  "  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"  as  these 
and  several  others  of  his  expressions  would  have  led  them  to 
suppose,  had  there  not  been  others  to  modify  and  explain  them ; 
it  was  another  Comforter,  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom  the  Father 
should  send  in  Christ's  name,  that  should  teach  them  all  things, 
and  should  "abide  with"  them  "for  ever."  Yet  still  Jesus 
suffers  them  not  to  suppose  that  they  were  to  transfer  their  love 
and  allegiance  to  a  new  master,  or  to  look  for  consolation  and 
instruction  to  any  distinct  being  from  himself,  though  after  his 
ascension  he  would  no  longer  be,  as  heretofore,  the  object  daily 
present  to  their  senses.  "  That  Spirit  of  truth,"  he  said,  they 
knew ;  "  for  he  dwelleth  with  you,  and  shall  be  in  you : "  "I  will 
not  leave  you  comfortless :  I  will  come  unto  you.  Yet  a  little 
while  and  the  world  seeth  me  no  more ;  but  ye  see  me :  because 
I  live,  ye  shall  live  also.  At  that  day  ye  shall  know  that  I 
am  in  the  Father,  and  ye  in  me,  and  I  in  you"^  ....  "he 
that  loveth  me,  shall  be  loved  of  my  Father,  and  I  will  love 
him,  and  will  manifest  myself  to  him  "...."  my  Father  will 
love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto  him  and  make  our  abode  with 
him  :  "  "  Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you.^     As  the  branch  cannot 

1  See  Note  (2),  p.  230. 


232  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

bear  fruit  of  itself,  except  it  abide  in  the  vine,  no  more  can  ye, 
except  ye  abide  in  me :  .  .  .  without  me,  ye  can  do  nothing " 
(John  XV.). 

That  these  promises  and  these  precepts  of  Jesus  were  not  so 
confined  to  the  disciples  then  around  him  as  to  concern  no  other 
Christians,  is  most  evident.  If  the  ajDostles  could  bring  forth 
no  fruit  except  they  "  abode  in  him,  and  he  in  them,"  no  more, 
surely,  can  we.  He  had  expressly  declared  that  he  "  prayed 
not  for  them  alone,  but  for  those  also  who  should  believe  on 
him  through  their  word ; "  nor  would  his  promise  of  being 
"  with  them  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"  have  been 
fulfilled,  by  the  assistance  bestowed  exclusively  on  one  genera- 
tion of  mortal  men. 

And  it  is  equally  clear,  I  think,  to  any  one  who  seeks  in 
earnest  to  be  led  by  the  Scriptures,  that  our  Saviour's  words 
are  not  to  be  explained  as  relating  merely  to  a  system  of  doc- 
trines and  motives,  —  to  an  abstract  religious  principle,  —  but 
to  a  real,  individual,  personal  agent  —  even  the  Holy  Spirit, 
operating  on  the  minds  of  believers ;  which  is  called,  amidst 
the  diversity  of  operations,  one  and  the  same  Spirit,  —  not  figu- 
ratively, as  when  we  speak  of  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  the  spirit 
of  emulation,  the  spirit  of  philosophical  inquiry,  and  the  like* 
but  literally  and  numerically  one  being,  even  the  one  God,  whose 
temple  is  the  whole  body  of  the  faithful ;  which  temple  they 
are  warned  not  "to  defile,  lest  God  destroy  them."^  For  if  any 
one  could  even  so  strain  this  last  expression  (as  well  as  many 
other  such)  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  likewise  all  the  words  of 
Christ  himself,  as  to  interpret  them  into  mere  metaphor,  it  would 
still  be  impossible  for  him  to  conceive  a  mere  principle  of  action, 
—  a  Christian  spirit,  in  that  transferred  sense  of  the  word,  — 
enabling  Christians  to  work  sensible  miracles;  and  these  we 

1  See  The  Three  Temples  of  the  one  true  God  contrasted,  by  Bishop  Hinds. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  233 

find  distinctly  attributed  to  the  immediate  agency  of  the  Divine 
Spirit. 

One,  indeed,  of  the  many  important  uses  of  the  miraculous 
gifts  bestowed  on  the  infant  church,  and  one,  doubtless,  of  those 
for  which  they  were  designed,  was  this  :  they  served  to  prove, 
among  other  things,  that  the  promised  indwelling  of  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  in  his  church  was  not  to  be  understood  as  a  mere 
figure  of  speech,  denoting  their  adherence  to  the  doctrines  he 
taught,  and  the  possession  of  the  inspired  record  of  them,  but 
a  real,  though  unseen  presence,  by  his  Spirit ;  —  not  the  mere 
keeping  of  his  commandments  through  love  for  his  memory, 
but  a  spiritual  union  with  him,  at  once  the  promised  reward, 
and  the  bond  and  support  of  that  obedient  love,  —  the  effect 
at  once  and  cause  of  our  "  keeping  his  saying."  "  For  if  any 
man  love  me,"  said  he,  "he  will  keep  my  saying;  and  my 
Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will  come  unto  him,  and  make 
our  abode  with  him." 

Would  Jesus  have  said  this  oti  any  man  (that  is,  every  man) 
who  loved  him,  if  he  had  been  speaking  only  of  the  apostles, 
and  of  those  others  who  should  receive  miraculous  gifts  ?  Or 
would  Paul,  in  that  case,  when  writing  to  the  Romans,  who 
had  at  that  time  received  no  miraculous  gifts,^  have  said,  "  The 
love  of  God  is  shed  abroad  in  our  hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which  is  given  unto  us : "  .  .  .  .  "  as  many  as  are  led  by  the 
Spirit  of  God,  they  are  the  sons  of  God  ....  if  so  be  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  dwell  in  you  :  if  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit 
of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his :  ...  .  the  Spirit  itself  beareth 
witness  with  our  spirit "  ?  etc. 

And  it  is,  I  conceive,  this,  the  more  intimate  union  of  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  with  his  disciples,  —  more  intimate  than  that 
which  existed  while  he  was  present  with  them  in  the  flesh,  — 
that  he  teaches  them  to  regard  as  a  ground  for  not  only  not 

1  See  Eom.  i.  11. 

20* 


234  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

grieving,  but  rejoicing,  at  his  departure,  which  was  to  lead  to 
such  a  reunion :  "  If  ye  loved  me,  ye  would  rejoice." 

§  n.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  since  "  every  good  and  ev- 
ery perfect  gift  is  from  above," —  since  from  God 

Difference  be-  "^  ^  °  ' 

tween  the  Jewish     "procccd  all  holy  dcsircs,  good  counsels,  and  just 

and  the    Christian 

churches  in  this  works,  wc  must  uot  accouut  Spiritual  mfluence 
as  any  pecuUar  privilege  of  the  gospel  system, 
but  must  acknowledge  that  good  men  among  the  Israelites  of 
old,  if  not  among  the  heathen  also,  acted  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Indeed,  we  find  them  even  recognizing  this 
influence  by  their  prayers  to  God  to  "make  a  clean  heart 
within  them,"  etc.  And  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  there  can 
surely  be  no  doubt  that,  under  the  gospel,  some  new  manifesta- 
tion of  God  in  the  Spirit  has  taken  place.  We  cannot  suppose 
that  the  persons  who,  by  our  Lord's  directions,  were  baptized 
into^  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, — who  were 
"  born  again  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,"  in  order  to  their  entering 
into  the  newly-founded  kingdom  of  heaven,  —  were  admitted  to 
no  privilege  which  had  not  been  all  along  enjoyed  by  their 
fathers,  even  from  the  creation.  And  every  part  of  the  New 
Testament  confirms  this  view.  Among  the  rest,  we  find  in  John's 
Gospel,  "  This  spake  he  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  they  that 
believed  on  him  should  receive ;  for  the  Holy  Ghost  was  not 
yet"^  "  because  that  Jesus  was  not  yet  glorified."  And  again, 
those  twelve  disciples  whom  Paul  found  at  Ephesus,  in  his  third 
apostolical  journey,  had  "  not  so  much  as  heard  whether  there 

1  Not  "in  the  name,"  as  it  is  in  our  translation;  which  probably  in  this  and  a 
few  more  instances  showed  too  much  deference  for  the  Vulgate  Latin  version. 
That  translates  "  in  nomine;  "  a  rendering  plainly  at  variance  with  the  original. 

2  "  Given,"  is  added  by  the  translators,  Hj/eC^o  ayiov  seems  used  in  this  place 
and  in  others  (as,  for  instance,  in  Acts  viii.  15  and  19,  and  xix.  2),  for  spiritual 
influence,  or  gifts.  When  the  Holy  Spirit  is  spoken  of  as  a  personal  agent^  the 
article  is  prefixed :  T5  fxyevfia,  rh  ayiov. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  TUE  UOLY  SPIRIT.  235 

be  any  Holy  Ghost."  ^  Yet  certainly  they  could  not  have  been 
ignorant  that  God  is  a  spirit.  Nor  can  it  well  be  supposed 
that  they,  and  the  Evangelist  John  in  the  passage  just  cited 
refer  to  the  miraculous  effusion  alone,  and  call  that  extraov' 
dinary  agency,  especially  and  exclusively,  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
since  they  must  have  known  how  frequently  God  had  of  old 
inspired  the  prophets,  and  enabled  many  of  them  to  perform 
various  miracles. 

In  what,  then,  are  we  to  conclude  the  difference  consisted, 
between  the  Christian  church  and  her  predecessor,  in  respect 
of  spiritual  endowment  ?  Without  presuming  to  decide  on  the 
degree  of  divine  assistance  bestowed  on  individuals  under  the 
two  dispensations  respectively  (which  would  be  presumptuous), 
this  important  distinction  we  may  plainly  perceive ;  that,  of  the 
Christian  church  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  promised  and  perma- 
nent Comforter;  he  is  the  '■^promise  of  the  Father,"  sent  that 
"  he  may  abide  with  us  for  ever"  Whatever  sanctifying  aid 
may  have  been,  in  fact,  supplied  under  the  old  covenant,  it 
was  no  part  of  that  covenant;  of  the  Christian  covenant,  it 
is.  God  the  Holy  Ghost  —  God  manifest  in  the  Spirit  —  was 
not  the  permanent  ruler  of  the  former  church,  as  he  is  of  the 
Christian.  As  for  the  divine  communications  to  the  prophets, 
and  the  miraculous  powers  bestowed  on  them  and  on  others, 
under  the  old  dispensation,  these  were  not  continuous,  but 
occasional.  Inward  sanctifying  grace,  again,  bestowed  on  the 
humble  and  pious,  may  have  been,  for  aught  we  know,  constant, 
but  was  not  promised.  And  hence  the  Jewish  people  was  never 
called,  like  the  Christians,  the  "  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  ^ 

What  the  Apostle  John,  therefore  (as  well  as  those  disciples 
at  Ephesus),  meant  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  —  which,  he  says,  "  was 
not  yet"  (oi^ttw tjv), — must  have  been,  this  covenanted  and  j^er- 

1  See  a  discourse  on  this  subject  in  Bishop  Copleston's  Remains. 

2  See  this  view  more  fully  expanded  in  Bishop  Hinds's  Three  Temples. 


236  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

petual  manifestation  of  God  in  the  Spirit  (a  manifestation  now 
to  faith  only,  though  at  first  confirmed  by  sensible  miracles),  as 
the  Governor,  Protector,  Consoler,  in  short,  Paraclete,  of  the 
Christian  church.  For  we  are  Christ's  body  ;  and  "  hereby  know 
we  that  he  dwelleth  in  us,  by  his  Spirit  which  he  hath  given 
us."  These  considerations  alone  would  be  suf&cient  to  prove, 
were  other  proofs  less  abundant,  that  the  promised  presence  of 
God  with  the  Christian  church  cannot,  without  setting  Scrip- 
ture at  defiance,  be  understood  as  referring  merely  to  the  writ- 
ings  of  the  New  Testament,  which  he  inspired ;  since  that  would 
give  us  no  advantage  over  the  Jewish  church  ;  for  "  holy  men 
of  old  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 

§  III.  The  promise  of  Christ,  however,  that  he  would  always, 
even  unto  the   end  of  the  world,  be  with  his 

Points    of  re-  . 

semblance,  and  of  church,  which  IS  thus  coustitutcd  "  tlic  temple 

ou/'^conditioiT^Tt  of  the  Holy  Ghost  that  dwelleth  in  it,"  is  not 

chTstilnrirkl  understood  by  all  in  the  same  extent.     While, 

first  age,  in  respect  q^  ^q  q^q  jj^nd,  somc  cuthusiasts  havc  pre- 

ot  spintual  f/^/ifs.  '  '■ 

tended  to  inspiration,  and  other  miraculous  gifts, 
many,  on  the  other  hand,  who  are  far  removed  from  this  error, 
but  who  are  satisfied  with  vague  and  careless  notions,  have  a 
sort  of  general  idea  of  spiritual  aid  not  being  wholly  withdrawn 
from  Christians,  but  bestowed  in  a  much  less  degree  than  on 
the  saints  of  the  primitive  times  ;  without  seeking  to  determine 
the  measure,  or  the  kind  of  spiritual  assistance  to  be  reasonably 
hoped  for  by  each  class  respectively,  or  the  signs  by  which 
each  might  recognize  its  presence. 

And  yet  it  might  naturally  be  supposed,  that,  inscrutable  as 
the  nature  of  God  must  be  to  his  creatures,  and  little  as  they 
can  understand  of  the  reasons  and  the  modes  of  his  dealings 
with  them,  at  least  we  should  be  capable  of  knowing  what  the 
spiritual  aid  is  that  we  are  taught  to  look  for,  and  commanded 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPmiT.     237 

to  pray  and  to  strive  for.  The  humblest  peasant  who  subsists 
by  the  labor  of  his  hands,  may  be  left  ignorant,  indeed,  of  the 
process  by  which  corn  vegetates  in  the  earth,  or  supplies  nu- 
triment to  the  human  frame ;  but  it  is  needful  for  his  natural 
life  that  he  should  understand  how  to  gain  his  daily  bread, 
which  he  is  taught  to  pray  for,  and  to  distinguish  it  from  what 
is  useless  or  noxious ;  and  it  is  no  less  needful  that  the  plain- 
est Christian  should  be  able  to  understand  how  his  spiritual 
life  is  to  be  supported,  —  the  welfare  of  his  soul  secured ;  and 
should  be  capable  of  guarding  against  any  dangerous  error  on 
the  subject. 

It  is  desirable,  therefore,  that  both  the  resemblances  and  the 
differences  between  our  condition  and  that  of  the  primitive 
Christians  in  respect  of  this  point,  should  be  as  accurately  laid 
down  as  possible,  and  should  be  frequently  dwelt  upon  ;  since 
the  worst  consequences  may  result  from  either  underrating  or 
overrating  the  spiritual  aid  to  be  expected  by  Christians  of  the 
present  day. 

Thus  much  is  generally  admitted :  that  the  promise  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  extended  to  both  classes  of  Christians,  but  that 
the  sensibly  miraculous  gifts  bestowed  on  the  early  church 
have  been  long  since  withdrawn ;  and  these  are  usually,  and 
very  suitably,  called  the  extraordinary  gifts,  as  bestowed  at  a 
particular  time,  and  for  an  especial  purpose,  and  are  thus  dis- 
tinguished from  what  are  called  the  ordinary  operations  of  the 
Spirit,  as  needful  alike  for  all  Christians,  and  at  all  times.  A 
more  particular  consideration,  however,  of  some  of  the  several 
points  of  resemblance,  and  of  difference,  between  the  two 
cases,  is  requisite,  for  the  purpose  of  guarding  against  some 
prevailing  errors,  and  of  calling  attention  to  doctrines  not 
always  sufficiently  noticed,  or  adequately  developed. 

And  this  inquiry  falls  naturally  under  two  heads  (which, 
however,  cannot  be  kept  entirely  distinct)  ;  namely,  first  as  to 


238  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

the  different  classes  of  gifts  themselves  ;  and  secondlj,  as  to  the 
tokens  by  which  the  presence  of  each  is  to  be  known  —  the  way 
in  which  each  kind  of  spiritual  influence  is  to  be  recognized. 

§  IV.    First,  then,  the  display  of  "  signs  and  wonders,"  in 
the  primitive  church,  constitutes  one  great  dis- 

Miraculoua  gifts 

peculiar   to    the     tiuctiou  bctwccn  their  casc  and  ours  ;^  but  this 

primitive  churcli.         ,...,.  ,  iii  iii 

distinction  being  acknowledged,  we  should  con- 
sider attentively  on  whom,  and  for  what  purposes,  these  mi- 
raculous gifts  were  bestowed.  For  it  is  not  unnatural,  nor,  I 
believe,  uncommon,  to  regard  the  persons  who  were  thus  gifted 
as  holier,  and  more  highly  favored  of  God,  than  Christians  of 
the  present  day,  —  as  saints,  in  some  different  sense  or  degree 
from  anything  that  we  are  required  or  allowed  to  become.^  But 
an  examination  of  the  case  will  plainly  show  that  we  have  no 
reasons  for  regarding  the  Christians  thus  gifted  as  having  any 
si^ch  advantage  over  us.  It  is  not  necessary  to  enumerate  and 
discuss  the  several  kinds  of  extraordinary  gifts ;  it  is  plain 
that  they  were  not  such  as  can  be  supposed  to  have  been  be- 
stowed for  the  direct  benefit  of  the  possessor.  The  gift  of 
tongues,  for  instance,  or  of  prophecy,  or  of  healing  the  sick, 
could  not,  of  themselves,  and  immediately,  conduce  to  the  sal- 
vation of  the  persons  thus  gifted.  But,  more  than  this,  they 
did  not  even  afford  proof  that  such  persons  were  completely 
acceptable  to  God,  and  in  a  safe  state  in  respect  of  their  sal- 
vation ;  for,  strange  as  it  may  appear  to  us,  there  is  no  possi- 
bility of  doubting  that  several  of  them  not  only  incurred  the 
apostle's  severe  rebuke  for  their  misconduct,  but,  among  the 
rest,  were  censured  for  a  vain  and  contentious  display  of  these 
very  miraculous  endowments.     They  showed  a  carnal  mind, 

1  For  it  is  not  necessary  at  present  to  enter  into  an  examination  of  the  false 
pretensions  of  some  impostors  and  enthusiasts,  who  have  professed  to  work  sensi- 
ble miracles. 

2  See  Sermon  on  Christiaii  Saints. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  239 

not  only  while  possessed  of  extraordinary  spiritual  gifts,  but 
even  in  the  very  employment  of  those  gifts. 

It  appears  probable,  indeed,  that  the  apostles  (who  alone 
had  this  powei*^)  conferred  some  extraordinary  gift  or  other  on 
every  one,  without  exception,  of  the  converts  who  came  in  their 
way,  as  a  token  and  pledge  of  their  being  in  truth  a  holy  peo- 
ple to  the  Lord.  At  least,  no  mention  is  made  of  their  be- 
stowing these  gifts  on  some  and  not  on  others  ;  and  certainly, 
whether  they  made  any  selection  or  not,  they  did  not,  as  we 
plainly  find,  confine  the  gifts  to  such  as  it  was  foreseen  would 
make  a  right  use  of  them. 

For  what  purposes,  then,  were  these  gifts  bestowed  ?  Princi- 
pally, we  may  conclude,  for  these  three  :  First,        ^^^  ^^^^  ^^_ 
for  the  satisfactory  conviction  and  assurance  of    ^^^^^  bestowed, 
the  minds  of  the  possessors  ;  secondly,  for  the  propagation  of 
the  religion  ;  and  thirdly,  for  the  edification  of  the  church. 

And,  first,  some  external  sensible  operations  of  the  Spirit 
must  have  been  highly  important,  at  least  to  satisfy  the  minds 
of  the  first  Christians  of  his  actual  presence  among  them. 
They  had  so  far  shaken  off  their  Jewish  and  heathen  prejudi- 
ces (prejudices  which  we  of  the  present  day  can  hardly  bring 
ourselves  adequately  to  estimate)  as  to  receive  the  religion  of 
Christ  crucified,  "  to  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block,  and  to  the 
Greeks  foolishness."  They  had  acknowledged  that  the  eter- 
nal God,  the  Author  and  Ruler  of  the  universe,  had  been 
manifested  in  the  flesh,  incarnate  in  an  obscure,  despised,  and 
persecuted  peasant,  who  had  been  executed  as  one  of  the  vil- 
est of  criminals ;  and  on  being  baptized  into  this  faith,  they 
were  further  required  to  believe  that  they  were  thus  "  born 
again  of  water  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  —  that  he,  the  same 
All-present  God,  dwelt  in  an  especial  manner  in  the  church,  of 
which  they  were  become  members,  as  in  a  most  holy  temple, 

1  Acts  viii.  16.  xix.  6.    Horn.  i.  11,  etc. 


2^0  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

and  was  ever  at  hand  to  sanctify  and  guide  them.  "  Know  ye 
not,"  says  Paul,  "  that  ye  are  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
which  dwelleth  in  you  ?  "  Now  all  this  was  so  opposite  to  all 
their  former  notions,  —  so  strange  to  all  their  habits  of  thought, 
that  they  might  well  need  some  special  assurance  of  such  a 
doctrine  as  this  last,  —  some  support  against  the  uneasy  doubts 
and  suspicions  which  might  suggest  the  question,  "  Is  the 
Lord  among  us,  or  not  ?  "  And  such  an  assurance  was  gra- 
ciously aflforded  them  in  the  sensible  testimony  of  his  presence, 
which  God  displayed  by  conferring  powers  manifestly  mirac- 
ulous.^ Those,  for  instance,  who  received  the  gift  of  speaking 
in,  or  interpreting,  a  language  they  had  never  learned,  could 
not  suspect  that  they  had  been  deceived  by  a  false  teacher, 
or  that  they  were  under  the  delusion  of  a  heated  imagina- 
tion. They  would  have  ground  for  undoubting  confidence, 
therefore,  that  they  were  indeed  born  of  the  Spirit,  and  living 
stones  of  that  holy  temple,  not  made  with  hands,  in  which  he 
resides.  Not,  however,  be  it  observed,  that  they  were  to  re- 
gard their  extraordinary  gifts  as  the  only,  or  as  the  most  im- 
portant, instance  of  spiritual  influence,  but  as  the  proof  and 
pledge  of  it.  The  truly  important  benefit  was,  the  sanctifi- 
cation  by  the  Spirit,  with  a  view  to  eternal  life  ;  the  miracu- 
lous power  was  the  seal  and  the  earnest  of  that  benefit,  — the 
sign  and  notification,  as  it  were,  that  the  treasure  had  been 
bestowed  (not  the  treasure  itself). 

Secondly,  these  extraordinary  gifts  were  needful,  in  various 
ways,  for  the  propagation  of  Christ's  religion,  —  to  furnish 
those  who  preached  it  with  credentials,  as  it  were,  from  heaven, 
to  prove  the  divine  origin  of  the  religion,  and  also  to  enable 
all  nations  to  "  hear  in  their  own  tongues  the  wonderful  works 
of  God." 

Thirdly,  divers  extraordinary  gifts  (probably  those  desig- 

1  Hinds's  History,  etc.    Vol.  1. 227. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPmiT.  241 

nated  as  the  "  word  of  wisdom,"  "  the  word  of  knowledge," 
and  "  the  word  of  prophecy  ")  were  evidently  needful  for  the 
edification  of  the  infant  church  —  for  the  supply  of  instruction, 
both  in  doctrines  and  in  moral  duties,  to  those  whose  Divine 
Master  had  not  left  behind  him  (like  Moses)  a  book  containing 
the  principles  of  Christian  faith  and  practice,  but  had  left,  in- 
stead, the  promise  of  his  Spirit,  who  should  "  lead  them  into 
all  [the]  truth." 

Such,  principally,  appear  to  have  been  the  peculiar  wants, 
and  such  the  peculiar  supply  of  those  wants,  in  the  infant 
church.  We  have  the  records  of  inspiration  in  the  writings 
of  the  apostles  and  their  followers,  which  supersede  the  neces- 
sity of  inspiration  in  ourselves :  we  have  the  history  of  their 
miracles  preserved,  which,  together  with  the  result  of  the  mir- 
acles, —  the  establishment  and  existence,  at  this  day,  of  the 
religion,  —  afford  a  sufficient  evidence  of  its  truth,  to  all  who 
are  open  to  conviction  ;  since  experience  —  now,  long  experi- 
ence —  has  proved  that  all  attempts  to  account  for  its  establish- 
ment by  human  means  are  vain.  And  as  the  blaze  of  the 
pillar  which  guided  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness,  and  proved 
to  them  the  divine  presence  among  them,  was  withdrawn  when 
they  were  sufficiently  convinced  of  that  presence,  and,  as  it 
were,  familiar  with  the  belief  that  the  Lord  was  among  them 
as  their  protector  and  king,  —  the  manifestation  of  "  the  glory 
of  the  Lord"  being  thenceforward  enclosed  within  the  most 
holy  place,  —  so  the  outward  and  sensible  marks  of  God's  pres- 
ence in  his  church  were  gradually  withdrawn,  when  sufficient 
evidence  had  been  afforded  of  that  presence  ;  which  is  still 
not  less  real,  or  less  effectual  than  before,  and  which  is  no  longer 
miraculously  displayed,  only  because  it  has  been  already  suffi- 
ciently proved.^ 

1 1  am  indebted  for  this  remark,  and  for  several  others  in  the  present  Essay,  to 
21 


242  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

The  extraordinary  gifts  were  probably  withdrawn  gradually ^ 
When  and  how     '^"^  proportion  as  the    structure   of  which  they 
withdrawn.  wcrc  the  temporary  support  gradually  acquired 

consistency.  We  have,  accordingly,  nothing  of  sufficient  au- 
thority recorded  on  the  subject ;  indeed,  much  has  come  down 
to  us  respecting  miracles,  pretended  to  have  been  wrought  long 
after  the  apostolic  age,  which  we  have  good  reason  for  regard- 
ing as  fabulous.  The  sacred  writers,  liowever,  furnish  us  with 
grounds  for  at  least  a  highly  probable  conjecture.  It  was 
through  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  apostles  only,  that 
extraordinary  gifts  were  for  the  most  part  conferred,  as  may 
be  proved  from  several  parts  of  the  New  Testament,  particu- 
larly the  account  in  the  Acts  (chap,  viii.)  of  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel  by  Philip  the  evangelist  to  the  Samaritans,  who 
were  afterwards  favored  with  a  visit,  chiefly,  as  it  appears,  for 
this  express  purpose,  by  the  Apostles  Peter  and  John.  And 
the  same  may  be  collected  from  the  opening  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans.  Such,  then,  being  the  mode  in  which,  exclusively, 
miraculous  powers  were  conveyed  (with  no  exception,  appar- 
ently, except  the  case  of  Cornelius  and  his  household  —  for 
which  there  was  an  obvious  reason),  the  result  must  have  been, 
that  when  all  the  apostles  had  terminated  their  course  on  earth, 
all  the  channels  must  have  been  stopped  through  which  this 
stream  had  hitherto  flowed ;  and  as  the  last  generation  dropped 
off,  one  by  one,  of  such  as  had  thus  been  gifted,  this  extraor- 
dinary manifestation  of  the  Spirit  gradually  became  extinct. 

§  V.    These  extraordinary  endowments,  then,  constitute  one 
Extraordinary     important  difference  between  the  early  Chris- 
aril"'"  oAhesTS     tians   and    ourselves;    but   the    corresponding 
compared.  poiut  of  resemUance  is  one  of  far  higher  impor- 

that  most  interesting  and  useful  work,  Hinds's  History  of  the  Eise  and  early 
Progress  of  Christianity,  first  published  in  the  Encyclopedia  Metropolitana. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIKIT.  243 

tance  ;  for  we  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  that  spiritual 
influence  which  is  conferred  for  the  benefit  of  the  individual 
Christian,  —  for  his  moral  improvement  and  purification  — 
for  his  support  and  guidance  in  the  road  to  eternal  life,  —  is 
bestowed  in  any  less  degree  on  sincere  Christians  at  the  pres- 
ent day  than  formerly.  Now  this  surely  is  of  incomparably 
higher  importance  than  the  miraculous  gifts  we  have  been 
speaking  of.  These  last  without  the  other  —  without,  that  is, 
the  proper  use  having  been  made  of  the  other  —  would  be 
utterly  worthless.  The  sanctifying  influence  of  the  Spirit,  if 
we  so  walk  after  it  as  to  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit, 
hath  the  "  end  of  everlasting  hfe."  "  Many,"  says  our  Saviour, 
"  shall  say  in  that  day.  Lord,  we  have  in  thy  name  cast  out 
demons,^  and  in  thy  name  done  many  mighty  works.  Then 
will  I  say  unto  them,  I  know  you  not ;  depart  from  me  all  ye 
workers  of  iniquity."  And  again,  "In  this  rejoice  not,  that 
the  demons  are  subject  unto  you  ;  but  rather  rejoice  because 
your  names  are  written  in  heaven." 

And  Paul,  in  like  manner,  when  he  has  been  enumerating 
and  comparing  together  the  various  extraordinary  spiritual 
gifts,  which  had  been  a  subject  of  emulation  and  dissension 
among  the  Corinthian  Christians,  concludes  by  utterly  depre- 
ciating all  of  them  in  comparison  of  that  which  he  calls  a 
"more  excellent  way."  This  he  designates  by  the  word 
"  agape,"  which  in  most  places  is  rendered  "  love,"  but  in  the 
passage  in  question,  "  charity."  It  appears,  however,  to  have 
been  employed  in  this  place  to  denote  collectively  all  the  sanc- 
tifying efficacy,  —  all  of  what  we  call  the  ordinary  operations 
of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  this  gift  being  at  once  the  great  proof  and 
instance  of  Christ's  love  to  his  church,  —  the  ground  of  the 

1  The  Devil  (AtajSoAos)  is  used  as  a  designation  of  Satan,  and,  of  course,  always 
in  the  singular:  the  plural,  which  has  been  injudiciously  rendered  devils,  is 
demons  {^aijx6via).    See  Lectures  on  Good  and  Evil  Angels. 


244  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

love  of  Christians  towards  their  Master,  and  also  the  bond  of 
their  brotherly  love  towards  each  other,  —  not  as  fellow-creatures 
merely,  but  as  fellow-members  of  Christ's  body.  The  circum- 
stance of  the  apostle's  setting  "  agape  "  above  faith  and  hope 
(TTtcTTts  and  cXttis),  not  merely  as  the  greatest  of  the  three,  but 
as  including  the  other  two,  because  it  "  hopeth  all  things,  and 
helieveth  all  things  "  (jravTa  IkTvit^u,  iravra  Trio-Tevet),  seems  to 
indicate  that  he  was  not  in  this  case  confining  his  view  to 
Christian  benevolence  alone ;  and  if  any  one  will  compare  the 
fruits  of  dyoLTTr},  as  enumerated  in  the  13th  chapter  of  the  First 
Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  with  "  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit "  in 
the  5th  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,^  in  the  origi- 
nal, he  will  perceive  such  a  striking  coincidence  in  the  Greek 
words  employed  in  the  two  passages  (much  more  striking  than 
an  English  translation  exhibits)  as  will  leave  little  doubt  that 
the  same  train  of  thought  was  in  the  writer's  mind  in  both 
instances.^ 

It  may  appear  superfluous,  however,  to  adduce  Scriptural 
proofs  of  what  is  in  itself  so  obvious  as  the  superior  value  of 
sanctifying  grace  to  miraculous  endowments.  But  as  long  as 
language  is  employed  by  mankind  to  express  their  thoughts, 
there  will  always  be  a  danger  of  their  thoughts  being  influ- 
enced by  language ;  and  unless  an  especial  attention  is  directed 
to  this  danger,  the  best-chosen  expressions  will  ever  be  liable 
insensibly  to  become  a  snare  to  us.  The  ordinary  and  the 
extraordinary  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  have  been  very 
fitly  so  termed ;  but  these  words  are  likely,  if  we  are  not  on 
our  guard  against  the  danger,  to  suggest  to  us,  gradually  and 
imperceptibly,  an  erroneous  idea.  Extraordinary  abilities 
place  a   man  much  above   one   of  ordinary:   extraordinary 


1  Compare  also  these  passages  with  Bom.  v.  5,  and  xv.  30. 

2  See  Hinds's  History  of  the  Rise  and  Progress,  etc.    Vol.  II.  p.  221. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  245 

merit  is  something  much  greater  and  better  than  ordinary  ;  and 
the  like  in  many  other  cases.  Such  an  employment,  therefore, 
of  those  words,  is  apt  to  lead  men  insensibly  to  form  an  in- 
distinct notion  of  some  very  superior  advantage  possessed  by 
those  endowed  with  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  espe- 
cially as  the  title  of  saints  is  commonly  applied  in  Scripture 
to  the  early  Christians  as  equivalent  to  that  title ;  while  by  us 
it  is  limited  to  a  few  of  the  most  eminently  pious  that  are 
recorded.^  K  one  were  even  to  hint  at  the  possibility  of  any 
man's  becoming,  in  the  present  day,  as  perfect  a  Christian  as 
one  of  the  apostles  —  of  any  set  of  Christians  now,  attaining  an 
equality  with  the  best  of  those  primitive  Christians,  —  becoming 

1  The  application  (among  Protestants)  of  the  title  "  saint,"  in  the  present  day, 
seems  somewhat  anomalous.  It  is  never  applied  to  the  indisputably  holy  (sancti) 
and  even  inspired  persons  who  lived  under  the  Jewish  dispensation, —  such  as 
Moses,  David,  Daniel,  etc.,  —  nor  is  it  limited  to  such  Christians  (namely,  the  apos- 
tles and  evangelists)  as  were  confessedly  inspired;  for  Protestants  commonly 
speak  of  Saint  Jerome,  Saint  Augustine,  etc.,  without  attributing  inspiration  to 
them ;  nor  again  is  it  considered  allowable  to  characterize  by  that  title  such  men 
of  later  days  as  appear  to  us  eminent  for  Christian  knowledge  and  virtue;  as, 
for  instance,  the  chief  promoters  and  martyrs  of  the  Reformation.  AJl  this 
surely  tends  to  foster  the  notion  that  in  the  earlier  ages  of  Christianity  some 
men,  at  least,  were  able  to  attain  a  higher  degree  of  Christian  holiness  than  any 
one  can  hope  for,  or  need  strive  for,  now. 

If  we  should  adopt  the  system  of  having  regularly  enrolled  in  a  list  or  canon 
the  names  of  all  who  are  to  be  designated  "  saints,"  taking  that  title  to  imply 
one  whose  merits  entitle  him  to  be  invoked  as  an  intercessor  for  others,  —  and 
claiming  for  ouselves  an  infallible  judgment  as  to  who  did  or  did  not  answer  to 
this  description,  —  then,  no  one  would  be  at  a  loss  when  to  apply  the  title  of 
'•  saint."  The  system  would  be  at  least  consistent  and  intelligible,  though  wholly 
without  Scriptural  warrant. 

I  would  suggest,  however,  to  Protestant  preachers  the  importance  of  frequently 
reminding  their  hearers,  —  at  least  the  middle  and  lower  classes,  that  is,  a  large 
majority  of  most  congregations,  —  that  it  is  a  mistake  (and  I  believe  it  to  be  a  very 
common  one)  to  suppose  that  the  admonitions  and  exhortations  which  the  apostles 
address  to  the  "  saints  "  do  not  concern,  or  do  not  equally  concern,  Christians  in 
the  present  day;  or  that  they  are  "  not  expected  to  be  saints."  To  assume  that 
title,  indeed,  as  distinguishing  them  from  their  fellow-Christians,  is  most  pre- 
sumptuous; but  the  gospel  promises  are  limited  to  those  who  live  "  as  becometh 
saints."  — See  Sermon  on  Christian  Saints. 

21* 


246  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

saints  in  as  liigli  a  degree  as  those  who  are  usually  so  called  — ■ 
the  very  idea  would  be  reprobated  by  many  persons  as  an 
almost  impious  presumption  ;  though,  in  fact,  there  is  much 
more  presumption  in  expecting  God's  eternal  favor  while  we 
are  content  to  remain  inferior. 

Not  that  men  deliberately  assent  to  the  proposition  that  the 
power  of  working  miracles  is  a  better  thing  than  a  pure  and 
holy  mind,  nor  tliat  they  can  be  ignorant,  if  they  are  but  mod- 
erately versed  in  Scripture,  of  the  recorded  imperfections  of 
many  thus  gifted,  even  in  their  manner  of  exercising  these 
very  gifts ;  but  the  use  of  the  word  extraordinary,  together 
with  the  perceptible  and  striking  character  of  these  endow- 
ments, and  our  habit  of  prizing  the  most  highly  what  is  rare,  tend 
to  leave  a  sort  of  vague  impression  on  the  mind,  of  some  preem- 
inent sanctity  in  those  who  were  partakers  of  them,  above  what 
is  attainable  in  the  present  day.  The  splendid  accompaniment 
which  testified  to  them  the  reality  of  the  spiritual  influence 
bestowed,  is  apt  to  enhance  in  our  minds  the  value  of  the  ben- 
efit thus  attested,  above  that  which  is  still  placed  within  the 
Christian's  reach.  But  if  we  attentively  consider  the  case,  we 
shall  be  convinced  that  the  Lord  has  not  given  to  the  one  class 
of  Christians  any  advantage  over  the  other,  in  that  which  tends 
to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  individual  Christian  and  leads  to 
the  salvation  of  his  soul,  —  that  his  promise  to  be  with  his  church 
always,  and  to  dwell  spiritually  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  love 
him  and  "  keep  his  saying,"  extends  equally  to  all  who  equally 
strive  to  fulfil  that,  the  condition  of  it,  —  and  that  our  situa- 
tion resembles  that  of  the  primitive  Christians  in  all  that  is 
essential,  and  differs  from  it  only  in  circumstances  which  were 
not  only  temporary,  but  comparatively  unimportant. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  247 

§  VI.     Hitherto  I  have  been  comparing  together  the  case 
of  the  early  Christians  and  our  own,  principally 

•^  '  r  1        J  rpjjg  gjj^jy  Chris- 

with  a  view  to  the  intrinsic  character  of  the     t'^ns  compared 

with   these  of  the 

spiritual  gifts  themselves  that  were  promised.    I     present  day  in  re- 

.    .  pect  of  the  si£>?w  of 

shall  proceed  (accordmg  to  the  division  men-  the  gifts  bestowed 
tioned,  §  III.)  to  offer  some  remarks  on  the 
signs  by  which  the  two  classes  of  gifts  —  the  influence  of  the 
Spirit  in  these  two  modes  of  operation,  the  extraordinary  and 
the  ordinary  —  are,  respectively,  to  be  recognized  and  ascer- 
tained. We  shall  hence  be  led  to  perceive  some  further  points 
of  difference  and  of  resemblance  between  the  condition  of  the 
first  Christians  and  our  own  ;  and  may  thus  be  more  effect- 
ually guarded  against  each  of  those  opposite  errors  which  are 
but  too  prevalent,  —  that  of  neglecting  or  depreciating  those 
inestimable  gifts  which  are  placed  within  our  reach,  and  that 
of  pretending  to,  or  expecting,  such  as  are  not  promised. 

When  our  Lord  said  to  his  disciples,  "  If  ye  have  faith,  and 
doubt  not,  ye  shall  not  only  do  this  which  is  Faith  required  in 
done  to  the  fig  tree,  but,  also,  if  ye  shaU  say  ^terS worrmi^- 
unto  this  mountain.  Be  thou  removed,  and  be  ^'^^^^' 
thou  cast  into  the  sea,  it  shall  be  done,"  —  it  is  plain  that  the 
faith  which  in  this  and  in  several  other  passages  he  was 
inculcating  on  them,  is  not  to  be  understood  of  mere  belief 
in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  or  in  the  doctrines  of  his  religion,  or 
of  trust,  generally,  iii  divine  power  and  goodness.  It  evi- 
dently has  reference  to  miraculous  powers,  such  as  are  not 
bestowed  on  all  Christians  ;  though  faith,  in  another  sense, 
is  required  of  all.  But  in  this,  and  other  declarations  of  like 
import,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  our  Saviour  had  in  view, 
confidence  in  those  admonitions  and  injunctions  which  his  dis- 
ciples and  mang  others  of  the  earlg  Christians  from  time  to  time 
received^  authorizing  and  empowering  them  to  work  certain 
miracles.      Their  extraordinary  gifts  were   not,  as  those   of 


248  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

Christ  himself  were,  at  their  own  command.  Even  Paul,  who 
performed  so  many  mighty  works,  and,  among  others,  possessed 
the  gift  of  healing  in  a  high  degree,  yet  was  not  always  per- 
mitted to  exert  this  gift,  even  in  favor  of  his  dearest  friends.^ 
A  special  commission  seems  to  have  been  requisite  to  enable 
them  to  exercise  their  delegated  powers.  And  this  was  con- 
veyed to  them  —  their  commission  and  call  to  perform  mira- 
cles was  announced  to  them  —  in  various  ways.  During  our 
Lord's  abode  on  earth  in  the  flesh,  he  himself,  whose  author- 
ity they  could  not  doubt,  uttered  commands  to  this  purpose 
with  his  own  lips.  Besides  the  general  commission  given  to 
the  apostles  and  to  the  seventy,  we  find  him  on  one  occasion 
giving  a  precise  direction  to  Peter  to  cast  a  hook  into  the  sea, 
and  to  take  the  fish  that  first  came  up,  in  whose  mouth  he 
should  find  the  piece  of  money  (a  stater)  which  the  exigency 
required ;  in  another  instance,  he,  at  the  request  of  the  same 
apostle,  commanded  him  to  come  and  meet  him  on  the  surface 
of  the  water.  Peter  seems  to  have  well  understood  that  his 
Master's  command  was  at  once  requisite  and  sufficient  to  enable 
him  to  tread  the  waves  without  sinking.  But  even  after  he 
had  begun  to  experience  the  efficacy  of  that  command,  his 
faith  was  shaken  by  alarm,  and  he  began  to  sink,  and  was 
reproached  by  his  Master  for  his  doubts.  The  faith  in  which 
he  was  in  this  instance  found  deficient,  seems  to  have  been 
precisely  that  which  our  Lord  on  other  occasions  so  earnestly 
inculcated.^ 

After  our  Lord's  ascension,  some  other  kind  of  indication 
must  have  been  given,  by  which  those  who  were  on  each 
occasion  authorized  to  work  any  miracle,  might  know  that  they 
were  thus  empowered  ;  a  species  of  revelation,  in  short,  must 
have  been  bestowed,  informing  them  what  they  were  enabled 
and  required  to  perform ;  and  in  this  revelation  they  were 

1  See  2  Tim.  iv.  20.  2  See  Lectures  on  the  Apostles. 


ON  TIIE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLT  SPIRIT.  249 

required  to  have  a  full  faitli.  Whatever  mode  may  have  been, 
in  each  case,  employed  for  conveying  this  revelation,  the  indi- 
cation given  must  always  have  been  something  in  which  they 
could  not  be  mistaken,  —  something  as  free  from  all  doubt  or 
suspicion  as  the  words  which  they  heard  Jesus  utter  while  with 
them ;  since,  otherwise,  this  unhesitating  faith  could  not  rea- 
sonably have  been  required  of  them.  It  must  have  been  some- 
thing, therefore,  which  could  not  possibly  be  confounded  with 
any  suggestions  of  their  own  minds. 

This  is  a  point  concerning  which  we  have  no  precise  state- 
ments in  Scripture ;  but  the  nature  of  the  case  puts  it,  I  think, 
beyond  a  doubt,  that  the  intimations  or  signs  we  are  speaking 
of  must  always  have  been  accompanied  by,  or  connected  with, 
something  sensibly  miraculous.  For  otherwise  we  must  sup- 
pose the  disciples  to  have  been  left  exposed  to  a  double  dan- 
ger,— that  of  mistaking  any  remarkable  dream,  or  impression  on 
their  waking  minds,  from  natural  causes,  for  a  communication 
from  the  Spirit,  —  in  which  case  they  would  have  given  faith  to 
a  delusion,  and  have  been  disappointed  in  their  expectations, 
contrary  to  our  Lord's  express  promise  ;  and  that  of  mistaking, 
on  the  other  hand,  some  heavenly  communication  for  an  or- 
dinary dream  or  thought  —  in  which  case  they  would  have 
failed  in  faith  without  any  fault  of  their  own.  God  certainly 
would  not  leave  his  servants  in  any  such  uncertainty  ;  and  they 
could  not  possibly  be  secured  from  it  in  any  way  but  by  the 
intervention  of  sensible  miracles. 

I  have  said,  however,  that  the  intimation  in  question  must 
be  either  accompanied  by,  or  connected  with,  some  sensible 
miracle,  because  such  a  proof  to  the  party  concerned  of  his  not 
being  deluded  as  would  be  necessary  in  the  first  instance,  might 
be  dispensed  with  afterwards,  when  some  particular  mode  of 
communication  had  been  once  stamped,  as  it  were,  with  the  sig- 


250  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

nature  of  divinity,  by  some  plainly  miraculous  accompaniment.^ 
A  particular  sort  of  internal  sensation,  for  instance,  or  mental 
emotion,  which  a  man  might  experience,  however  strikingly  dif- 
ferent it  might  be  from  his  ordinary  feelings,  he  would  be  very 
rash  in  regarding  as  a  signal  of  inspiration,  since  he  could  not 
possibly  tell  that  it  was  not  a  symptom  of  disease,  or  of  some 
other  natural  change ;  but  if  he  experienced  something  of  this 
kind  in  immediate  connection  with  a  miraculous  phenomenon,  to 
which  his  senses,  and  those  of  others,  could  testify,  the  recur- 
rence of  this  peculiar  sensation  or  perception  afterwards  would 
then  be  of  itself  justly  regarded  by  him  as  a  heaven-sent  inti- 
mation. For  instance,  a  man  may  dream,  or,  if  in  an  excited 
state  of  mind,  may  fancy,  that  he  hears  a  voice  addressing  him, 
when  there  is  no  such  thing ;  but  when  Paul,  on  his  road  to 
Damascus,  was  struck  to  the  ground,  and  bhnded  by  a  blaze 
of  light,  he  thus  received  the  assurance  of  a  sensible  miracle,  — 
then  it  was  that  he  heard  himself  addressed  in  the  awful  voice 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.  He  afterwards,  as  he  tells  us,  received  from 
him,  at  various  times,  revelations  concerning  the  gospel.  Xow 
if,  as  is  most  probable,  this  revelation  was  communicated  to 
him  by  that  same  voice  (even  though  unaccompanied  by  the 
supernatural  light)  —  a  voice  which  could  not  be  but  strongly 
impressed  on  his  memory  —  he  would  be  in  no  more  danger 
of  delusion  than  any  of  us  in  holding  communication  with  a 
well-known  friend. 

Again,  when  two  of  the  disciples  met  with  their  ]M[aster 
lately  risen  from  the  grave,  as  they  were  going  to  Emmaus, 
their  senses  were  at  first  pretematurally  obscured,  so  that  they 
did  not  recognize  him ;  but  they  seem  to  have  experienced, 
while  he  was  talking  with  them,  a  certain  remarkable  inward 
sensation,  not  noticed  by  them  at  the  time,  which  they  de- 
scribed by  their  "hearts  burning  within  them."     Now  this  may 

1  Hinds's  History,  etc.    Vol.  I.  p.  187. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  251 

indeed  have  been  no  more  than  a  natural  and  ordinary  emo- 
tion, elicited  by  the  interesting  character  of  the  discourse  they 
were  hearing ;  it  may,  however,  have  been  something  peculiar ; 
and  the  remarkable  circumstances  of  the  case  (especially  their 
eyes  being  "  holden  that  they  should  not  know  him  ")  render 
this  not  at  all  improbable ;  especially,  since,  for  the  reasons  just 
above  given,  there  was  a  manifest  need  of  their  experiencing 
some  peculiar  and  perfectly  new  sensation.  It  is  certainly  not 
impossible  ;  and  therefore,  at  any  rate,  we  may  frame  such  a 
supposition  for  illustration's  sake.  Suppose,  then,  as  is  at  least 
conceivable,  this  were  a  sensation  altogether  different  from  any- 
thing they  had  ever  before  experienced ;  its  recurrence,  on  any 
subsequent  occasion,  would  be  justly  regarded  by  them,  from 
the  miraculous  circumstances  accompanying  its  first  occur- 
rence —  as  a  token  of  their  Lord's  presence,  though  unseen, 
and  notice  that  they  were  to  regard  as  a  communication  from 
the  Spirit  the  ideas  conveyed  to  their  minds  through  this 
vehicle. 

Whether  in  this  particular  instance  the  fact  were,  or  were 
not,  such  as  I  have  supposed,  makes  no  difference  to  the  present 
argument ;  the  object  being  only  to  illustrate  my  meaning.^  It 
is  worth  observing,  however,  that  our  Lord  must  have  had  some 
design  in  thus  presenting  himself  to  his  disciples  invisible,  — 
invisible  that  is,  as  their  master,  Jesus  ;  —  and  his  design,  or 
at  least  part  of  it,  may  have  have  been,  and  was  likely  to  have 
been,  to  teach  them  the  meaning  of  a  certain  peculiar  inter- 
nal impression  denoting  his  presence  in  the  Spirit.  If  so,  the 
sensation,  and  its  peculiarity^  their  own  consciousness  would 
testify  ;  its  meaning  would  be  explained  to  them  by  their  Lord's 
afterwards  opening  their  eyes,  so  that  they  knew  who  it  was 
that  had  been  with  them. 

But  whenever  (as  has  often  been  the  case,  with  those  of  an 

1  See  Elements  of  Rhetoric.    Part  I.  chap.  iii.  §  3. 


252  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

enthusiastic  temperament,  in  later  times)  we  find  a  person 
strongly  suspecting  that  he  has  received  a  revelation,  or  fully- 
convinced  of  it,  from  feeUng,  as  they  sometimes  express  it,  a 
certain  thought  forcibly  borne  in  upon  his  mind,  we  may  be 
quite  sure  that  he  is  deluding  himself.  God  would  never 
leave  any  doubt,  or  at  least  any  reasonable  ground  for  doubt, 
on  the  mind  of  any  one  to  whom  he  might  think  fit  to  impart 
a  revelation  ;  he  doubtless  never  did,  nor  ever  will,  communi- 
cate any  one  of  the  extraordinary  gifts  of  the  Spirit,  without 
attesting,  to  the  person  or  persons  concerned,  its  reality,  by  the 
stamp  of  some  sensible  miracle. 

The  Apostle  Paul,  accordingly,  we  find  enabled  to  distin- 
guish, and  careful  to  distinguish,  the  fullest  convictions  of  his 
own  understanding  from  divine  revelations.  During  his  last 
journey  to  Jerusalem  that  is  recorded  in  the  Acts,  he  was 
strongly  impressed  with  the  expectation  that  he  should  there 
close  his  career  by  a  violent  death.  He  took  leave  of  the 
elders  of  Ephesus  with  an  assurance  of  his  complete  conviction 
that  they  should  see  his  face  no  more.  But  he  knew  that  this 
his  conjecture  (which,  all  things  considered,  was  a  very  prob- 
able one,  though  the  event,  we  have  eveiy  reason  to  believe, 
did  not  agree  with  it)  was  merely  a  conjecture,  and  not  a  rev- 
elation. He  had  received  a  divine  admonition  to  take  this 
journey,  and  also  a  warning  of  approaching  persecutions  ;  but 
the  ultimate  event  was  as  yet  hidden  from  him :  "  Behold,  I  go 
bound  in  the  Spirit  unto  Jerusalem,  not  knowing  the  things  that 
shall  befall  me  there  ;  save  that  the  Holy  Ghost  witnesseth  in 
every  city^  that  bonds  and  afflictions  abide  me  "  (Acts  xx.  23). 

An  admirable  instance  of  the  apostle's  care  may  be  seen  in 
1  Cor.  vii.  Any  such  directions  as  he  might  have  heen  sup- 
posed to  deliver,  on  divine  authority,  on  points  whereon  he  had 

1  That  is,  "  in  every  city  I  meet  with  persons  prophetically  inspired  to  declare 
this." 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPmiT.  253 

received  "  no  commandment  from  the  Lord,"  he  is  careful 
(though  he  could  not  but  wish  his  advice  to  be  followed)  to 
point  out  as  merely  the  suggestions  of  his  own  judgment.  In 
points  unconnected  with  religion,  such  as  the  directions  he 
gives  about  bringing  his  cloak  and  his  books  from  Troas,  as  it 
would  be  absurd  to  suppose  any  inspiration,  so  there  was  no 
need  that  he  should  disavow  it. 

And  this  applies  to  such  purely  historical  passages  in  the 
sacred  writers  as  involve  no  religious  doctrine  or  precept.  It 
is  childish,  therefore,  to  allege  errors,  real  or  imaginary,  of  this 
nature,  as  reasons  for  doubting  either  the  truth  of  Christianity, 
or  the  inspiration  of  our  sacred  writers.  If  indeed  they  can  be 
proved  to  have  written  like  men,  so  ill-acquainted  with  the 
time,  places,  and  occurrences  they  speak  of  as  to  show  that 
they  could  not  really  have  been  what  they  profess,  this  is  an 
objection  of  a  different  kind ;  and  on  this  question  we  may 
safely  join  issue.  But  when  we  are  told  of  a  blind  man  healed 
by  Jesus,  according  to  one  evangelist  (Mark  x.  4G),  as  he  was 
going  OM^  q/*  Jericho,  and  according  to  another  (Luke  xviii.  35), 
as  he  was  coming  into  Jericho,  it  seems  obvious  that  one  of 
the  two  was  mistaken  as  to  this  circumstance,  —  a  circumstance 
so  utterly  insignificant  that  it  would  be  extravagant  to  expect 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  should  interfere  to  correct  the  mistake. 
And  any  one  who  should,  on  such  a  ground,  deny  the  occur- 
rence of  the  miracle,  or  the  general  fidelity  of  the  writers, 
would  be  acting  on  a  principle  which,  if  adhered  to  in  ordinary 
life,  would  be  regarded  as  a  symptom  of  utter  mental  imbecility. 

There  are  other  points,  again,  in  which  we  could  have  no 
ground  for  conjecturing,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  whether 
supernatural  guidance  took  place  or  not ;  as,  for  example,  when 
the  Apostle  Paul  changed  his  first  design  of  going  into  Bithy- 
nia,  and  proceeded  to  Troas,  there  is  no  reason  why  this 
alteration  of  plan  might  have  been  regarded  as  the  result  of 
22 


254  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

his  own  natural  judgment,  but  that  we  are  expressly  told  that 
"  the  Spirit  suffered  them  not "  to  enter  Bithynia  (Acts  xvi. 
6,  7).  In  this  case,  therefore,  either  there  was  a  supernatural 
'interference,  or  the  writer  is  guilty  of  a  direct  falsehood. 
This  is  a  distinction  most  important  to  be  remembered,  as  it 
has  been  overlooked  by  eminent  writers.  Many  of  the  enact- 
ments of  the  Mosaic  law,  again,  are,  in  themselves,  such  as  we 
might  conceive  to  have  been  framed  by  the  natural  wisdom  of 
Moses ;  and  his  detaining  the  Israelites  forty  years  in  the  wil- 
derness is  not  a  measure  on  which  we  could  pronounce,  from 
internal  evidence,  that  it  could  not  have  been  the  result  of  his 
own  judgment.  But  when  we  find  him  distinctly  declaring 
that  he  had  received  express  commands  from  the  Lord  on  these 
points,  no  alternative  remains  but  either  to  admit  that  these 
were  divine  appointments,  or  to  impute  to  the  author  a  delib- 
erate imposture. 

Inspirations,  however,  and  other  miraculous  gifts,  we  have, 
as  has  been  already  observed,  no  reason  to  expect  in  these 
days.  Not,  however,  that  we  are  authorized  to  assert  confi- 
dently that  nothing  of  the  kind  ever  will  recur ;  but  thus  far 
we  may  be  confident,  that  if  it  does,  it  will  be  accompanied  by 
sufficient  evidence  to  distinguish  clearly  a  miraculous  interpo- 
sition from  imposture  or  delusion. 

And  it  is  important  to  observe,  that  one  who  rashly  gives 
heed  to  such  impostures  or  delusions,  is  so  far  from  being 
chargeable  with  erring  though  excess  of  faith,  that  he  has  in 
reality  forfeited  all  claim  to  the  praise  of  faith  as  a  Christian 
virtue ;  since  he  plainly  shows  that  even  what  is  true  in  his 
belief  is  received  by  him  not  because  it  is  true,  but  because  it 
agrees  with  some  fancies  or  prejudices  of  his  own ;  and  that 
he  is  right,  where  he  is  right,  only  by  chance.  Having  viola- 
ted the  spirit  of  the  first  commandment,  by  regarding  what  is 
human  with  the  veneration  due  to  that  only  which  is  divine,  his 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPmiT.  255 

worship,  even  of  the  true  God,  becomes  an  abomination.  He 
has  "  set  up  idols  in  his  heart "  (see  Ezek.  xiv.),  and  the  Lord, 
the  jealous  God,  will  "  set  his  face  against  that  man." 

§  VII.     The  signs,  then,  by  which  the  extraordinary  gifts 
of  the  Spirit  were  announced,  constitute  (as  well 

^  ^  ^^  Equality,  in  the 

as  those  gifts  themselves)  a  point  of  difference     most  important 

.      .  1      ^      '  point,  between  the 

between  the  early  Christians  and  their  success-     primitive  and  the 

.  present  church. 

ors.  There  is  a  resemblance,  and,  as  we  have 
every  reason  to  conclude,  an  equality,  between  the  condition 
of  the  infant  church  and  our  own,  in  respect  of  that  far  more 
important  point, — the  ordinary  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  operat- 
ing in  the  sanctification  of  the  heart.  What,  then,  is  the  sign 
of  this  gift  ?  —  the  token  by  which  we  may  be  assured  of 
"  God's  working  in  us  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleas- 
ure ?  "  This  operation  of  the  Spirit,  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe,  not  only  is,  but  always  was,  imperceptible,  and  undis- 
tinguishable,  except  by  its  fruits,  from  the  ordinary  workings 
of  the  human  mind.  For  if  it  was  suggested  to  the  mind  of 
one  of  the  first  Christians  that  he  ought  to  do  this  or  that,  and 
suggested  in  such  a  manner  (which  sometimes  was  the  case)  as 
to  afford  him  a  satisfactory  assurance  of  an  immediate  com- 
mand from  the  Holy  Ghost,  this  would  clearly  be  a  case  of 
revelation,  and,  consequently,  would  belong  to  the  other  class 
of  spiritual  gifts  —  not  to  that  which  we  are  now  considering. 
But  we  may  be  sure  that  they  were  not,  even  the  most  highly- 
gifted  of  them,  thus  guided  by  immediate  revelation  in  all  the 
actions  of  their  lives ;  but  were  left  to  work  out  their  "  own 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling ; "  though  still  encouraged  to 
do  this  by  the  assurance  that  "  God  wrought  in  them."  They 
were  accordingly  not  uniformly  infallible  ;  for  we  find  a  dissen- 
sion arising  between  Paul  and  Barnabas :  nor  was  this  settled 
by  any  miraculous  interposition,  or  authoritative  declaration 


256  WHATELY'S  ESSxYYS. 

of  the  Spirit,  to  either  of  tliem.  And  again,  we  find  Paul 
withstanding  and  censuring  Peter  ;  but  at  the  same  time  use- 
ing  arguments  to  convince  him  of  his  error :  not  charging  him 
with  having  wilfully  rebelled  against  any  express  immediate 
revelation  respecting  the  particular  act  in  question. 

In  fact,  the  early  Chi'istians  could  hardly  have  been  moral 
agents  if  they  had  not  been  left  watchfully  to  regulate  their 
own  conduct  according  to  the  best  of  their  judgment,  but  had 
in  every  case  recognized  the  immediate  dictates  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  forbidding  or  enjoinmg  each  action  of  their  lives.  And 
yet  they  were  taught  that  in  all  their  conduct  the  assistance  of 
God's  Spirit  was  requisite,  and  was  promised  to  them.  Our 
Lord  himself  told  them  that  without  him  they  "  could  do  noth- 
ing ; "  and  the  apostle's  encouragement  to  them  to  work  out 
their  own  salvation,  is,  "  it  is  God  that  worketh  in  you." 

But  how,  then,  were  they,  and  how  are  we,  to  know  what 
are  these  suggestions  of  the  sanctifying  Spirit?  Our  Lord 
himself  seems  to  instruct  us  that  we  are  to  judge  by  the  effects, 
when  he  says,  "  The  wind  {Trvivixa)  bloweth  where  it  listeth, 
and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell  whence 
it  Cometh,  nor  whither  it  goeth ;  so  is  every  one  that  is  bom 
(rov  TTvevjxaTos)  of  the  Spirit."  He  here  seems  to  have  in  view 
the  ordinary  and  universal  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  — 
those  which  extend  to  "  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit," 
without  which  "  no  one  can  enter  into  the'kingdom  of  heaven." 
And  as  we  judge  of  the  direction  of  any  wind  that  blows 
(though  itself  invisible)  by  its  effects,  —  by  the  direction  in 
which  it  impels  the  bodies  moved  by  it,  —  so  we  must  decide 
whether  we  are  in  each  instance  influenced  by  God's  Holy 
Spirit,  or  by  our  own  corrupt  desires  and  the  spirit  of  evil,  by 
observing  the  direction  in  which  we  are  impelled  ;  whether  to 
holiness  or  to  sin,  —  towards  a  conformity,  or  an  opposition,  to 
the  example  of  our  great  Master,  the  vrord  of  his  inspired 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  257 

servants,  and  the  moral  law  which  is  written  on  our  conscience, 
thonjTh  the  characters  be  so  far  obscured  as  not  to  be  traced 
without  diligent  study.  The  apostle,  in  like  manner,  when 
exhorting  his  converts  to  be  "  led  by  the  Spirit,"  and  to  "  walk 
after  the  Spirit,"  evidently  refers  them  to  a  similar  test,  by 
enumerating  the  principal  of  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  and  con- 
trasting them  with  "  the  works  of  the  flesh  " ;  which,  he  says, 
"  are  manifest." 

From  these  considerations  it  will  appear  how  much  those 
are  in  error  who  imagine  that  such  as  have  attained  a  very 
high  degree  of  Christian  perfection,  and  are  eminently  under 
the  sanctifying  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  will  be  able  dis- 
tinctly to  perceive,  by  a  peculiarity  of  immediate  sensation, 
and  thus  to  distinguish,  from  their  own  natural  thoughts,  the 
suggestions  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  If  this  his  ordinary  operation 
—  this  grace  which  guides  and  assists  the  Christian  "  to  will 
and  to  do  what  is  well-pleasing  to  God  "  —  always  was,  as  there 
seems  good  reason  to  conclude,  insensible,  we  may  be  well 
assured  that  it  always  will  be  so.  As,  on  the  one  hand,  even 
the  lowest  of  the  extraordinary  spiritual  gifts  alluded  to  by 
Paul  must  always  have  been  accompanied  with  a  distinct  man- 
ifestation of  its  superhuman  origin,  so  as  to  prevent  the  possi- 
bility of  its  being  mistaken  for  an  exercise  of  any  natural 
power,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  even  the  very  highest  degree  of 
purifying  grace  is,  and  always  was,  undistinguishable  from  the 
exercise  of  the  natural  powers,  except  by  the  holiness  which 
is  the  result.  The  "  carnal  mind  "  and  the  "  spiritual  mind  " 
are  to  be  known,  respectively,  by  "  the  works  of  the  flesh" 
and  the  "  fruits  of  the  Spirit."  It  is,  first,  by  the  inclinations 
of  our  hearts ;  secondly,  by  our  deliberations  towards  the  ac- 
complishment of  our  wishes ;  and  thirdly,  by  the  actions  which 
are  the  result  of  these,  that  we  must  know  what  spirit  we  are 
22* 


258  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

of ;  for  it  is  from  God  that  "  all  holy  desires,  all  good  counsels, 
and  all  just  works  do  proceed." 

Another  error,  opposite  to  the  one  just  considered,  is  that  of 
those  who  acknowledge,  in  general  terms,  the  existence  and 
the  necessity  of  the  ordinary  operations  of  the  Spirit,  but  ex- 
plain them  away  in  each  particular  case,  and  thus  completely 
nullify  the  doctrine.  They  allow  that  Christians  are  to  expect 
the  sanctifying  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  but  each  separate 
work  in  which  this  divine  agency  can  possibly  operate,  they 
attribute  exclusively  and  entirely  to  some  other  cause.  If  a 
man  resist  temptation,  they  attribute  this  to  his  sense  of  the 
folly  and  danger  and  sinfulness  of  yielding  to  it ;  and  thence 
deny  that  spiritual  influence  was  concerned  in  the  case.  If  he 
improve  in  religious  knowledge,  they  attribute  this,  exclusively, 
to  his  diligence  in  learning,  and  to  the  advantage  of  good  instruc- 
tion ;  and,  accordingly,  contend  that  there  is  no  need  in  such  a 
case  to  suppose  spiritual  influence  concerned.  If  he  does  any  act, 
or  entertains  any  sentiment,  which  right  reason  would  approve, 
they  regard  this  as  a  proof  that  to  right  reason  alone  it  is  to 
be  referred.  And  in  this  way  they  exclude,  one  by  one,  every 
possible  instance  in  which  the  ordinary  grace  of  the  Spirit  can 
operate ;  for  anything  which  could  not  be  traced  to  any  natural 
cause,  would  clearly  be  miraculous.  But  a  doctrine  which  is 
true  generally,  cannot  be  false  in  every  particular  instance. 
In  fact,  what  we  mean  by  the  ordinary  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  is  his  operation  through  second  causes,  —  his  aid  to  our 
endeavors,  his  blessing  upon  the  means  of  grace.  We  are 
taught  to  pray  for  our  daily  bread  as  God's  gift,  though  it  is 
not  like  manna  showered  miraculously  from  the  skies  ;  and 
every  Christian  thought,  word,  and  deed  is  no  less  "from 
above,  and  cometh  down  from  the  Father  of  lights,"  though  it 
come  not  accompanied  with  fiery  tongues  and  the  "  sound  of 
a  mighty  wind."  Its  Christian  goodness  is  the  sign  of  its 
spiritual  origin. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  259 

It  is  perhaps  hardly  worth  while  to  notice  an  objection  I 
have  heard,  that  every  operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit  must  be 
an  interruption  of  the  course  of  nature,  and  miraculous  ;  and 
that  consequently  I  have  all  along  been  teaching  (though  I 
have  said  the  direct  reverse)  that  miracles  are  to  be  expected 
in  the  j^resent  day ;  for  if  no  miracles,  it  is  said,  are  to  be 
looked  for,  no  spiritual  influence  at  all  is  to  be  looked  for. 
But  this,  surely,  is  little  better  than  a  verbal  cavil.  If  this 
sense  of  the  word  "  miracle "  is  to  be  adopted,  then  I  do 
teach  (as  indeed  every  one  must,  whether  sincerely  or  not, 
who  recites  the  foroiularies  of  our  church)  that  miracles  have 
not  ceased,  and  that  we  are  still  to  hope  and  pray  (as  in  the 
collect  for  the  fifth  Sunday  after  Easter)  that  by  God's  "  holy 
inspiration  we  may  think  those  things  that  be  good,  and  by  his 
merciful  guiding  may  perform  the  same."  But  this  does  not 
imply  what  is,  perhaps  the  most  properly  —  certainly  the 
most  usually — termed  a  "miracle";  namely,  a  sensible  mira- 
cle —  an  extraordinary  and  perceptible  interruption  of  the  gen- 
eral course  of  God's  providence.  I  have  all  along  been  speak- 
ing of  the  aid  now  to  be  looked  for  as  the  "  ordinary"  operation 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  —  as  not  "  sensible,"  but  to  be  known  only 
by  its  fruits,  —  and  as  so  far  from  being  an  "interruption," 
that  it  may  be  considered  as  rather  forming  a  part  of,  the 
course  of  Providence,  as  far  as  Christians  are  concerned  —  to 
all  of  whom  this  spiritual  aid  is  offered. 

At  least,  if  this  offer  is  not  made  in  Scripture,  I  cannot  see 
what  can  be  learned  with  any  certainty,  or  indeed  how  any- 
thing at  all  can  be  learned,  from  the  writings  of  the  apostles. 
For  if  we  are  in  this  case  to  reject  or  to  explain  away  their 
most  explicit  and  repeated  declarations  on  the  ground  that  we 
have  no  sensible  proof  of  this  divine  agency,  this  is  to  make 
their  word  go  for  nothing  ;  since  if  they  announced  to  us 
any  phenomenon  to  which  our  senses  did  bear  testimony,  we 


260  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

should  believe  it  on  that  ground,  not  from  faith  in  the  declara- 
tions of  the  sacred  writers.  But  he  who  is  content  to  be  taught 
by  them,  must,  I  think,  accede  to  our  church's  doctrine  as  to 
the  reality  of  a  spiritual  influence  not  sensibly  or  properly 
miraculous,  but  known  only  by  its  effects  to  be  the  work  of  Him 
to  whom  we  must  apply  to  "  put  into  our  minds  good  desires, 
and  to  bring  the  same  to  good  effect." 

§  VIII.  These  "  fruits  of  the  Spirit,"  then,  are,  and  ever 
Sign  of  the  Chris-  wcrc,  the  Criterion  to  Christians  of  their  being 
;;:iM>:gr„"  "l^d  by  the  spirit.-  The  sign  of  their  having 
ituai  guidance.  g^  claim  to  this  Spiritual  guidance  —  to  the  ordi- 
nary operation  of  the  Spirit  —  of  their  being  admitted  to  a 
share  in  the  offer  of  this  grace  —  I  cannot  conceive  to  be, 
or  ever  to  have  been,  any  other  than  their  baptism  into  the 
Christian  faith.  There  are  some,  indeed,  who  represent  bap- 
tism as  a  sign  only  of  admission  into  the  visible  church,  and 
not,  necessarily,  of  spiritual  regeneration.  But  the  shortest 
and  most  decisive  answer  to  these  persons  appears  to  be,  that 
they  are  making  a  distinction  without  a  difference.  Such  as 
the  church  is  described  in  Scripture,  namely,  "  as  the  body  of 
Christ  Jesus,"  as  the  "  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  dwell- 
eth  in  it " —  to  speak  of  admittance  into  this  church  without  an 
admission  to  the  privileges  bestowed  on  it,  seems  a  contradic- 
tion in  terms.  The  promises  of  Christ  are  made  to  the  society 
of  which  he  is  the  head ;  and  to  individuals  not  as  men^  but  as 
members  of  that  society.  If,  in  the  case  of  temporal  goods, 
any  one  is  admitted  a  member  of  any  endowed  society,  he  is 
thereby  admitted  to  a  share  of  its  revenues  :  it  would  be  a 
contradiction  to  disjoin  them.  The  visible  church  of  Christ 
is  a  society  endowed  by  him  with  the  richest  privileges  ;  but 
then,  it  rests  with  each  member  of  that  society,  as  it  does  with 
the  members  of  a  human  society,  to  avail  himself  aright  of 
those  privileges,  or  to  neglect  or  abuse  them. 


ox  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  261 

The  case  of  Christians  is  in  this  respect  analogous  to  that  of 
God's  people  of  old.  (See  Essay  III.)  All  the  Israelites  were 
admitted  into  covenant  with  the  Lord  ;  and  being  made  thus  his 
"  peculiar,"  "  holy,"  and  "  elect "  people,  were  entitled  to  all  the 
privileges  and  promises  of  that  covenant ;  though  it  rested  with 
each  individual  to  make  a  good  or  an  ill  use  of  these  advan- 
tages. The  Lord  was  ready  to  perform  his  part,  if  they  would 
perform  theirs ;  but  if  they  refused  this,  still  they  were  not 
allowed  to  draw  back  from  the  engagement,  but  incurred  the 
heavier  judgment  for  their  disobedience.  The  rebellious  were 
not  permitted,  as  they  desired,  "  to  return  into  Egypt,"  but  were 
cut  off  in  the  wilderness. 

And  the  infants  of  the  Israelites  were  admitted  into  this 
covenant,  by  the  rite  of  circumcision,  at  the  age  of  eight  days  ; 
though  they  were,  of  course,  then  incapable  of  immediately 
enjoying  or  understanding  their  privileges.  If  this  had  been 
sufficiently  attended  to,  it  might  have  obviated  the  difficul- 
ties that  have  been  raised  from  the  consideration  that  such  as 
are  baptized  in  infancy  cannot  be,  at  once,  nor  till  they  become 
moral  agents,  actually  influenced  by  the  Holy  Spirit ;  whence 
it  has  been  inferred  by  some  that  we  ought  to  defer  baptism 
till  the  party  is  arrived  at  years  of  discretion.^ 

But,  after  all,  there  is  no  more  difficulty  in  the  case  than  in 
one  which  occurs  every  day,  —  that  of  an  infant  inheriting  an 
estate.  He  is  incapable,  at  the  time,  of  using  or  comprehend- 
ing the  advantage  ;  but  still  it  is  his.  He  is  not  hereafter  to 
acquire  the  title  and  claim  to  it ;  but  he  will  hereafter  become 
capable  of  understanding  his  claim,  and  employing  his  wealth  ; 
and  he  will  become  responsible  at  the  same  time  for  the  use 
made  of  it. 

Christians  in  like  manner  are  called  upon,  at  their  peril,  to 
make  the  best  use  of  their  advantages,  as  soon  as  they  become 

1  See  the  concluding  Essay  in  this  volume. 


262  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

capable  of  understanding  them ;  and  if  they  fail  to  do  this,  they 
are  not  on  that  account  esteemed  as  never  having  been  admit- 
ted to  those  advantages,  but,  on  the  contrary,  incur,  on  that 
very  ground,  the  heavier  condemnation.  "  What !  know  ye  not," 
says  the  apostle,  "  that  ye  are  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
which  dwelleth  in  you?  And  if  any  man  defile  [^^eipet]  the 
temple  of  God,  him  will  God  destroy,"  ((ft^epel). 

It  is,  then,  and  ever  was,  a  matter  of  faith  to  believe  in  the 
continual  sanctifying  presence  of  God  with  his  church  ;  and  in 
"  the  communion  [or  '  fellowship  ']  of  saints,"  as  "  the  commu- 
nion ^  of  the  Holy  Ghost "  —  namely,  the  participation  of  all 
Christians,  as  far  as  they  will  avail  themselves  of  the  offer,  in 
the  assistance  of  that  Holy  Spirit  from  whom  every  good  and 
every  perfect  gift  proceeds.^ 

In  this  respect  our  case  and  that  of  the  early  Christians 
coincide.  But  there  is  this  point  of  difference  between  the  two  : 
that  this  was  not  to  them,  as  to  us,  the  great  trial  of  their  faith  ; 
because,  in  the  infant  church  the  extraordinary  manifestations 
of  the  Spirit  served  as  a  visible  token  to  convince  them  of  his 
actual  presence.  The  same  Spirit  still  resides  in  the  church  ; 
but,  like  the  Shechinah  concealed  within  the  holy  of  holies,  it 
is  screened  from  our  view :  we  walk  wholly  "  by  faith,  and  not 
by  sight."  They,  however,  had  counterbalancing  trials,  —  the 
fellowship,  in  the  Spirit,  of  Jews  and  Gentiles:  to  the  one 
party  the  admission  of  the  unclean  heathen  as  fellow-heirs  with 
the  favored  children  of  Abraham ;  to  the  other,  the  reception 
of  a  religion  and  of  a  Divine  Master  from  a  nation  of  obscure 
barbarians,  despised  and  detested  for  superstition ;  both  that 
Master  and  his  ministers  being  rejected  and  abhorrefd  even  by 
that  nation  itself; — in  short,  "Christ  crucified,  to  the  Jews 

1  2  Cor.  xiii.  14. 

2  Doubtless  one  of  the  objects  of  our  Lord  in  the  institution  of  the  eucharist, 
was  to  remind  Christians  of  this  "  communion  "  or  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  to  impress  it  habitually  on  their  minds.    See  Note  A,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPmiT.  263 

a  stumbling-block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness,"  constituted 
a  trial  to  their  faith  which  we  can  hardly  estimate.  The  indig- 
nities which  Jesus  suffered,  who  was  thence  "  esteemed  stricken, 
smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted ; "  the  contradiction  which  the  new 
religion  presented  to  all  the  fondly-cherished  hopes  of  the  Jew, 
to  all  that  the  Gentile  most  revered  in  philosophy  and  was 
most  attached  to  in  his  religion  and  in  his  habits  of  life ;  the 
inveterate  malice  of  persecutors ;  the  scorn  and  derision  of  the 
wisest  and  greatest ;  the  censures,  entreaties,  and  lamentations 
of  kindred  and  friends,  —  all  these,  and  numberless  other  cir- 
cumstances, revolting  to  every  prejudice,  every  feeling,  every 
habit,  of  the  new  convert,  formed  a  trial  to  his  faith  of  which 
we  can  form  but  a  faint  idea,  and  under  which  it  was  needful 
that  his  gracious  Master  should  support  him,  by  a  constant 
visible  display  of  his  presence. 

§  IX.     It  is  the  part  of  Christians  of  the  present  day,  on  the 
one  hand,  not  to  distrust  the  reality  of  that  pres- 

'  .  Example  of  the 

ence  because  it  is  no  longer  thus  miraculously     aposties  to  te  fol- 
lowed by  reversing 

displayed  ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  to  require  or  in  some  points  their 
look  for  such  a  miraculous  manifestation  as  God  ^'^^^^  "'^^' 
has  thought  fit  no  longer  to  bestow.  How  we  should  have  con- 
ducted ourselves,  if  placed  in  the  circumstances  of  the  primi- 
tive Christians,  can  be  known  only  to  the  Searcher  of  hearts  ; 
how  we  shall  conduct  ourselves  under  the  circumstances  in  which 
we  are  actually  placed,  —  how  we  shall  withstand  our  own  trials 
and  make  use  of  our  own  advantages,  —  is  the  point  which 
most  concerns  us,  since  of  that  we  shall  have  to  give  an  account. 
And  if  we  would  profit  by  the  example  of  the  most  eminent 
of  God's  servants,  we  must  in  some  respects  reverse  their  pro- 
cedure, in  conformity  with  the  reversed  circumstances  in  which 
we  are  placed.  We  must  endeavor  to  learn,  and  to  perform  as 
far  as  we  are  able,  by  our  natural  powers,  under  the  blessing  of 


264  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

God's  ordinary  operations,  what  the  apostles  were  taught,  or 
were  empowered  to  do,  by  miraculous  gifts  ;  and  the  instruc- 
tion they  derived  from  their  own,  or  from  each  other's  imme- 
diate inspiration,  we  must  seek  to  obtain  in  the  records  of  that 
inspiration  which  they  have  left  us.  They  could  in  many 
instances  infer  this  or  that  to  be  right  or  true,  from  its  being  the 
suggestion  of  the  Spirit,  which  was  attested,  to  themselves  and 
to  others,  by  miracles ;  we,  on  the  contrary,  can  only  prove  any 
thing  to  be  the  suggestion  of  the  Spirit,  by  its  being  right  and  true; 
and  the  evidence  of  this  must  be  sought  in  Scripture,  that  rec- 
ord of  the  dictates  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  the  appointed 
standard  for  deciding  what  does  proceed  from  the  Author  of  all 
good.  If  our  life  and  faith  are  agreeable  to  the  gospel,  this  is  the 
ground  of  confidence  that  they  are  right ;  and  if  right,  they  must 
come  from  that  sanctifying  and  enlightening  and  supporting 
grace  which  alone  can  raise  to  life  the  dead  in  sin,  and  purify 
man's  corrupt  nature,  and  effectually  open  his  eyes  to  the  truth, 
and  "  strengthen  the  feeble  knees  "  to  walk  in  God's  paths. 
This  spiritual  assistance  is  not,  like  the  other,  a  proof  on  which 
to  build  and  support  our  faith,  but  is  itself  a  matter  of  faith,  — 
a  truth  to  be  believed  on  God's  assurances.  And  those  persons, 
therefore,  are  in  fact  wanting  in  faith  (of  which  they  often  pre- 
tend, to  a  preeminent  degree),  who  are  not  satisfied  with  this 
assurance,  but  look  for,  and  pretend  to,  sensible  experiences 
which  are  to  afford  a  direct  and  decisive  demonstration  to  their 
minds  of  their  being  under  spiritual  influence.  "  Except  they 
see  signs  and  wonders,  they  will  not  believe." 

It  is  very  wonderful,  as  well  as  most  lamentable,  that  some 
piously-disposed  Christians  should  so  far  deceive  themselves 
as  to  claim  for  themselves,  and  for  others,  inspiration  in  the 
highest  sense,  and  consequent  infallibility,  without,  apparently, 
any  consciousness  that  they  are  doing  so,  because  they  avoid 
the  use  of  those  words.     For  instance,  there  are  some  who 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  265 

represent  our  Lord's  admonition  to  his  apostles  "  not  to  pre- 
meditate "  when  called  on  to  vindicate  themselves,  as  applica- 
ble to  all  sincere  Christians  in  every  age.  The  doctrine  may- 
be even  found  in  published  books  in  some  repute;  not  with 
any  attempt  to  prove  it,  but  taken  for  granted  as  self-evident. 
And  yet  those  who  maintain  it  would  be  ready,  probably,  to 
disavow  all  claim  to  infallibility,  and  seem  not  to  perceive 
that  they  have  plainly  implied  it.  For  our  Lord's  injunction 
is  plainly  accompanied  with  that  promise.  "  Take  no  thought," 
says  he  (Matt.  x.  19),  "how  or  what  ye  shall  speak, /or  it 
shall  be  given  you  in  that  hour  what  ye  shall  speak ;  for  it  is 
not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit  of  your  Father  that  speaketh  in 
you."  If  this  does  not  imply  inspiration  in  the  sense  of  infal- 
libility, it  would  be  hard  to  say  what  can. 

Now  claims  of  this  kind,  put  forth  by  persons  who  have  no 
sensibly  miraculous  confirmations  of  them  to  offer,  do  more 
hurt  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  than  all  that  can  be  urged  by 
the  most  ingenious  infidels.  Suppose  five  or  six  different  per- 
sons of  various  persuasions,  —  one,  suppose,  a  Quaker,  another 
an  Irvingite,  another  a  Baptist,  another  a  Methodist,  etc.,  —  each 
maintaining  that  all  sincere  Christians  are  enjoined  not  to 
premeditate  what  they  shall  say  in  defence  of  their  faith,  and 
are  promised  that  "  it  shall  be  given  them  "  what  to  say  when 
called  on ;  and  suppose  each  of  them  to  have  a  confident  faith 
in  what  he  believes  to  be  the  true  gospel,  and  to  have  earnestly 
prayed  for,  and  trusted  to  have  received,  this  promised  aid : 
any  one  in  at  all  a  doubtful  state  of  mind  will  be  likely  to  say, 
"  These  men  cannot  all  be  right,  since  they  teach  different  doc- 
trines ;  but  they  may  be  all  wrong ;  and  in  this  they  are  all 
agreed,  that  Christ  made  a  promise  to  all  his  followers,  which,  it 
is  manifest,  has  not  been  fulfilled."  I  need  not  say  what  con- 
clusion is  likely  to  be  the  result.  And  those  who  are  guilty  of 
this  most  culpable  rashness,  —  not  to  say,  profane  presump- 
23 


266  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

tion,  —  must  be  held  responsible  for  having  thus  put  a  stum- 
bling-block in  a  brother's  way. 

We  are  to  look,  then,  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  the  Spirit 
Complete  certain-  of  Chrfst  inspired  —  not,  indeed,  according  to  the 
Sd^o7o*^l'^^•^ud^-  iiotion  somc  have  maintained,  as  constituting  the 
ments  impossible,  ^^ly  assistancc  that  the  Holy  Ghost  now  bestows 
on  the  church,  but  as  constituting  the  ultimate  standard  by  which 
we  are  to  judge  how  far  we  have  received  and  are  profiting 
by  that  assistance.  It  is  not  in  these  only  that  he  is  present; 
but  it  is  by  these,  as  a  test,  that  his  presence  is,  in  each  case, 
to  be  known. 

It  is,  indeed,  only  through  the  enhghtening  and  supporting 
grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  even  the  Scriptures  themselves 
can  be  consulted  with  benefit.  If  we  study  them  with  a  mind 
biassed  by  any  of  those  numerous  prejudices  and  infirmities 
which  beset  our  frail  nature,  we  shall  receive  the  heavenly 
light  of  God's  word  through  a  discolored  medium  ;  and  its  rays 
will  thence  give  an  unnatural  tint  to  everything  on  which  they 
are  shed.  Many  different  persons,  accordingly,  have  arrived 
at  different  conclusions  {all  which,  consequently,  could  not  be 
correct),  though  they  have  applied,  apparently  at  least,  the 
very  test  that  has  been  recommended.  They  have  compared 
their  opinions  or  practices  with  the  standard  of  God's  word,  and, 
finding  them  agree,  have  concluded  them  to  be  the  suggestions 
of  the  Spirit  which  dictated  that  word  ;  and  yet  this  agreement 
has  perhaps  been  {must  have  been,  in  some  instances)  the 
result  of  a  partial  and  prejudiced  interpretation  of  Scripture ; 
they  may  have  suffered  those  opinions  and  practices  to  hend 
the  rule  ^  by  which  they  were  to  be  measured. 

But  how,  after  all,  it  may  be  said,  is  this  danger  to  be  com- 
pletely avoided  ?  Are  we  not  involved  in  a  vicious  circle,  if 
we  are  to  judge  whether  we  are  under  the  influence  of  the 

1  Arist.  Bhet.  B.  1,  chap.  i. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  2G7 

Spirit  by  consulting  the  Scriptures,  and  yet  cannot,  without 
that  influence,  interpret  aright  those  very  Scriptures  ?  How, 
in  short,  arc  we  to  arrive  at  a  completely  satisfactory  decision 
as  to  our  own  sentiments  and  conduct  ? 

The  danger  is  one  against  which  we  never  can  be  completely 
secured  in  this  life, — the  decisions  we  attain  can  never  be  wholly 
exempt  from  all  ground  for  doubt  :^  in  other  words,  we  must 
not  expect,  with  our  utmost  efforts  and  prayers,  to  attain  per- 
fect wfallibility.  If  we  could,  this  life  would  hardly  be  any 
longer  a  state  of  trial.  To  contend  against  the  difficulty  in 
question, — to  labor  not  only  with  diligence  and  patience,  but 
"  with  fear  and  trembling  "  also  ;  that  is,  with  anxious  and 
humble  self-distrust,  —  is  the  very  task  assigned  us  in  this  our 
state  of  preparation.  But  if,  while  the  Christian  puts  forth  all 
his  own  powers  in  this  task,  he  at  the  same  time  earnestly  and 
importunately  prays  for  heavenly  guidance,  and  relies  with 
deep  humility  on  Him  who  alone  can  crown  those  efforts  with 
success,  he  will  be  continually  approaching  nearer  and  nearer 
to  "  a  right  judgment  in  all  things,"  and  to  a  corresponding 
perfection  of  life.  For  it  is  the  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
lead  us  into  "  all  righteousness,'^  as  well  as  into  all  truth. 

And  in  referring  to  and  studying  the  Scriptures,  though  no 
infallible  interpreter  is  to  be  found,  or  hoped  for,  —  no  system 
of  general  directions  that  will  absolutely  secure  us  against  mis- 
take, —  yet  there  are  two  maxims  especially  (already  adverted 
to  in  these  Essays),  which,  studiously  dwelt  upon,  and  perpet- 
ually recalled  to  our  thoughts,  will  prove  a  safeguard  against 
many  and  various  errors.  The  one  is,  to  remember  that,  in 
studying  the  Scriptures,  we  are  consulting  the  Spirit  of  truth  ; 
and  therefore  must,  if  we  would  hope  for  his  aid,  search  hon- 
estly and  earnestly /or  the  truth  —  not  for  a  confirmation  of  our 
preconceived  notions,  or  a  justification  of  the  system  or  the 

1  See  Essay  VI.  J  x.    (First  Series). 


268  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

practice  to  which  we  may  be  inclined.  This  maxim  is  the 
more  frequently  transgressed,  from  men's  falsely  persuading 
themselves  that  they  have  complied  with  it.  The  conclusions 
which  they  arrive  at  they  of  course  believe  to  be  true  ;  and 
thence,  from  their  having,  as  they  suppose,  found  truth,  they 
take  for  granted  that  it  was  for  truth  they  were  seeking.  But 
a  desire  to  have  Scripture  on  our  side  is  one  thing,  and  a  sin- 
cere desire  to  be  on  the  side  of  Scripture  is  another  ;  it  is 
one  thing  to  pray  that  we  may  learn  what  is  right,  and  an- 
other thing  (though  often  mistaken  for  it)  to  pray  that  we  may 
find  OURSELVES  in  the  right. 

And,  finally,  in  combination  with  this  rule  we  should  also 
keep  constantly  in  mind  that  of  seeking  in  Scripture  not  only 
for  truth,  but  for  practical  truth,  with  a  view  to  the  improve- 
ment of  our  life  and  heart.^  This  is  an  express  condition  on 
which  spiritual  aid  in  enlightening  the  understanding  is  prom- 
ised :  "  If  any  man  is^  willing  to  do  the  will  of  God,  he  shall 
hnow  of  the  doctrine."  We  must  seek,  therefore,  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, by  the  aid  of  Him  who  gave  them,  not  for  speculative 
knowledge  respecting  the  intrinsic  nature  of  God,  or  of  the 
human  soul,  but  for  practical  knowledge  concerning  the  rela- 
tions existing  between  God  and  the  soul  of  man,  that  we  may 
be  enabled  to  serve  and  please  him  the  better  ;  and  that  "  the 
inspiration  of  his  Holy  Spirit  may  cleanse  the  thoughts  of  our 
hearts,"  and  fit  us  for  enjoying  the  more  immediate  presence  of 
our  Master  in  his  triumphant  kingdom. 

1  "  Pray  for  what  passeth  human  skill, 
The  power  God's  will  to  do: 
Read  then  that  thou  may'st  do  his  will, 
And  thou  shalt  know  it  too. " 

—  Bishop  Hinds's  Po&ns, 
2  &e'A€i. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  269 


NOTE  TO  ESSAY  IX. 


Note  A— Page  262. 

With  a  view  to  the  mere  commemoration  of  our  Lord's  sacrifice, 
and  expression  of  our  faith  in  his  atonement,  the  mere  breaking  of  the 
bread,  and  pouring  out  of  the  wine,  in  the  Lord's  supper,  might  have 
been  sufficient ;  but  the  bread  and  wineare,by  Christ's  appointment, 
eaten  and  drunk  in  conformity  with  this  declaration,  '"  Except  ye 
eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  his  blood,  ye  have  no  life 
in  you  "^ :  "  He  that  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  the 
same  dwelleth  in  me,  and  I  in  him."  What,  then,  is  it  of  which  the 
devout  communicants  are  really  partakers,  under  the  outward  sym- 
bols of  bread  and  wine  ?  Surely,  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ ;  for  "  hereby 
know  we  that  he  dwelleth  in  us,  by  his  Spirit  which  he  hath  given 
us ; "  and  hence,  by  Paul's  expression,  that  "  we  are  all  made  to  drink" 
(iiroTiff^lxev,  1  Cor.  xii.  13)  "  into  one  Spirit." 

This  obvious  interpretation  the  Romanists,  and  afterwards  the 
Lutherans,  were  led  to  overlook,  partly  at  least,  I  conceive,  from  the 
habit  of  keeping  too  much  out  of  sight  the  divine  unity,  and  of 
regarding  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost  too  much  as  distinct  beings ; 
so  that  to  partake  of  Christ  must,  they  thought,  be  something  different 
from  partaking  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Hence  they  inferred  that  the 
communicants  receive  the  literal,  material  body  and  blood  of  Christ; 
and  they  accordingly  boast  that  they  alone  interpret  the  Scripture 
declarations  not  figuratively.  There  is  no  need  to  adduce  the  well- 
known  refutations  of  this  extravagant  doctrine;  but  there  is  one 
answer  to  it,  which  is  usually  overlooked,  and  which  goes  to  over- 
throw the  foundation  of  it ;  namely,  that  if  we  coidd  actually  receive 
into  our  mouths  the  very  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ,  this  could  not, 
of  itself,  be  productive  of  any  benefit  to  the  soul.  It  might,  if  God 
willed  it,  be  the  appointed  token  and  means  of  our  receiving  such 
benefit,  even  as  the  water  of  the  pool  of  Siloam  was,  of  restored 
sight ;  but  it  could  not  itself  confer  any  spiritual  advantage,  any  more 

1  See  Hinds's  Catechist's  Manual,  p.  265,  to  the  author  of  which  I  am  indebted 
for  the  substance  of  these  remarks. 

23* 


270  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

than  water  could  cure  blindness.  It  must,  therefore,  after  all,  be  In 
a  spiritual  and  fgurative  sense  that  Christ  says,  "  My  flesh  Is  meat 
indeed,  and  my  blood  Is  drink  Indeed."  If  they  inere  literally  eaten 
and  drunk,  they  must  still  be  the  sign  of  something  else,  represented 
and  conveyed  by  them.  So  that  the  violence  done  to  Scripture  and 
to  reason,  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  a  figurative  interpretation,  does 
not,  after  all,  even  accomplish  that  object. 

The  error  of  transubstantlatlon  the  English  Church  has  guarded 
against  most  carefully,  by  declaring  that  the  bread  and  wine  remain 
unchanged,  —  that  they  are  only  a  sign  of  Christ's  body  and  blood, 
—  and  that  It  is  only  "  after  a  spiritual  manner"  that  his  body  and 
blood  are  received  by  the  faithful.  But  it  would  have  been  better, 
perhaps,  to  have  added  to  this,  for  the  benefit  of  the  unlearned,  a 
statement  that  the  bread  and  wine  not  only  are  merely  a  sign,  but 
are  a  sign  of  a  sign :  that  Is,  that  they  represent  our  Lord's  flesh  and 
blood,  and  that  his  flesh  and  blood,  again,  are  a  sign  of  something  else. 
This  is  indeed  implied,  when  it  is  said  that  Christ's  body  and  blood 
are  "  spiritually  received,"  and  that  It  "■  strengthens  and  refreshes  the 
soul ;  "  for  It  is  manifest  that  literal,  material  flesh  and  blood  cannot 
be  spiritually  received,  or  refresh  the  soul.  But  for  the  sake  of  avoid- 
ing those  vague  and  confused  Ideas  which  are  apt  to  lead,  ultimately, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  something  nearly  the  same  as  the  notion  of  tran- 
substantlatlon, or,  on  the  other  hand,  to  the  regarding  of  the  eucharist 
as  a  mere  memorial,  it  might  have  been  better  to  state  distinctly 
what  it  is  that  the  faithful  communicants  do  really  partake  of 

To  eat  and  drink  the  symbols^  of  the  Lord's  flesh  and  blood,  rep- 
resents our  feasting  on  the  sacrifice,  —  our  being  made  sharers  In 
the  benefits  procured  by  his  death,  even  the  "  gifts  which  he  received 
for  men."  That  which  strengthens  and  refreshes  the  soul  of  Chris- 
tians, as  bread  and  wine  do  man's  body.  Is  "  the  Spirit  of  Christ," 
whereby  "  he  dwelleth  In  us,  and  we  In  him ; "  for  "  it  is  the  Spirit 
that  quickeneth  {C<^ottoiovv)  ;  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing  "  (John  vi. 
63).  And  as  it  is  the  soul  or  spirit  of  a  man  that  animates  (quick- 
eneth) his  body,  which  would  otherwise  be  lifeless,  so  Christians,  who 
are  themselves  the  figurative  body  of  Christ,  are  quickened — receive 
life  and  vigor,  "  strength  and  refreshment " —  from  the  Spirit  which 
dwelleth  in  them.    They  "  are  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost "  :  "  the 

1  '<  Mysteries  "  is  used  in  the  sense  of  "  symbols  "  in  the  second  prayer  at  the 
close  of  our  communion  service. 


ON  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  HOLY  SPmiT.  271 

last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening  Spirit."  And  since  it  is  as  mem- 
bers of  the  holy  community  that  individual  Christians  obtain  this  gift, 
of  this  circumstance  they  are  reminded  by  their  partaking  together 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  —  "  the  communion  \Koivav[a\  of  the  blood  of 
Christ"  (1  Cor.  x.  16).  "We  have  all  been  in  one  Spirit  baptized 
into  one  body"  (that  is,  all  admitted  by  baptism  —  being  born  of 
•water  and  of  the  Spirit  — into  the  church,  which  is  Christ's  body), 
"  and  have  all  been  madQ  to  drink  into  one  Spirit"  (1  Cor.  xii.  13). 


ESSAY    X 


ON  SELF-DENIAL. 

§  L     Much  of  what  is  said  in  the  writings  of  the  Apostle 

Mistakes  and  dif-     1*^^!  ^^^  ^^  othcF  parts  of  Scripturc  concerning 

SSi^rSngfJom     Christian  "self-denial,"  and,  again,  concerning 

J^eSS'peru'sa?     "  mortification,"  and   much  also   that  we  read 

of  Paul,  and  other    [^  various  placcs  relative  to  "  fastinor"  have  un- 

of  the  sacred  wnt-  '■  °' 

e".  doubtedly  presented  to  some  minds  a  considerable 

difficulty ;  not  merely  speculative  difficulty,  but  practical,  and 
leading  to  great  diversity  of  views  and  of  conduct,  and  some- 
times to  distressing  doubt  and  perplexity  in  reference  to  Chris- 
tian duty. 

I  cannot  but  attribute  great  part  of  the  discrepancy  and  per- 
plexing uncertainty  that  has  arisen,  on  this  and  also  on  several 
other  points,  to  the  habit  cherished  by  some  persons  of  reading 
the  Scriptures  assiduously,  indeed,  but  without  any  attentive 
reflection  and  studious  endeavor  to  ascertain  the  real  sense  of 
what  they  read  ;  concluding  that  whatever  impression  is  found 
to  be  left  on  the  mind  after  a  bare  perusal  of  the  words,  must 
be  what  the  sacred  writers  designed.  They  use,  in  short,  little 
or  none  of  that  care  which  is  employed  on  any  other  subject  in 
which  we  are  much  interested,  —  to  read  through  each  treatise 
consecutively  as  a  whole,  to  compare  one  passage  with  others 
that  may  throw  light  on  it,  and  to  consider  what  was  the  gen- 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  273 

eral  drift  of  the  author,  and  what  were  the  occasions  and  the 
persons  he  had  in  view. 

In  fact,  the  real  students  of  Scripture,  properly  so  called,  are, 
I  fear,  fewer  than  is  commonly  supposed.  The  theological 
student  is  often  a  student  chiefly  of  some  human  system  of 
divinity,  fortified  by  references  to  Scripture  introduced  from 
time  to  time  as  there  is  occasion.  He  proceeds,  often  uncon- 
sciously, by  setting  himself  to  ascertain,  not  what  is  the  inform- 
ation or  instruction  to  be  derived  from  a  certain  narrative  or 
discourse  of  one  of  the  sacred  writers,  but  what  aid  can  be 
derived  from  them  towards  establishing  or  refuting  this  or 
that  point  of  dogmatic  theology.  Such  a  mode  of  study  surely 
ought  at  least  not  to  be  exclusively  pursued.  At  any  rate,  it 
cannot  properly  be  called  a  study  of  Scripture. 

There  is,  in  fact,  a  danger  of  its  proving  a  great  hinderance 
to  the  profitable  study  of  the  Scripture.  For  so  strong  an  asso- 
ciation is  apt  to  be  established  in  the  mind  between  certain 
expressions  and  the  technical  sense  to  which  they  have  been 
confined  in  some  theological  system,  that  when  the  student 
meets  with  them  in  Scripture  he  at  once  understands  them  in 
that  sense,  in  passages  where  perhaps  an  unbiassed  examina- 
tion of  the  context  would  plainly  show  that  such  was  not  the 
author's  meaning.  And  such  a  student  one  may  often  find  ex- 
pressing the  most  unfeigned  wonder  at  the  blindness  of  those 
who  cannot  find  in  Scripture  such  and  such  doctrines  which 
appear  to  him  to  be  as  clearly  set  forth  there  as  words  can 
express ;  which  perhaps  they  are,  on  the  (often  gratuitous) 
supposition  that  those  words  are  everywhere  to  be  understood 
exactly  in  the  sense  which  he  has  previously  derived  from 
some  human  system,  —  a  system  through  which,  as  through  a 
discolored  medium,  he  views  Scripture.  But  this  is  not  to  take 
Scripture  for  one's  guide,  but  rather  to  make  one's  self  a  guide 
to  Scripture. 


274  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

Others,  again,  there  are,  who  are  habitual  readers  of  the 
Bible,  and  perhaps  of  little  else  ;  but  who  yet  cannot  properly 
be  said  to  study  anything  at  all  on  the  subject  of  religion,  be- 
cause, as  was  observed  just  above,  they  do  not  even  attempt  to 
exercise  their  mind  on  the  subject,  but  trust  to  be  sufficiently 
enlightened  and  guided  by  the  mere  act  of  perusal,  while  their 
minds  remain  in  a  passive  state.  And  some,  I  believe,  pro- 
ceed thus  on  principle  —  considering  that  they  are  the  better 
recipients  of  revealed  truth,  the  less  they  exercise  their  own 
reason. 

But  this  is  to  proceed  on  a  totally  mistaken  view  of  the  real 
province  of  reason.  It  would  indeed  be  a  great  error  to  at- 
tempt svhstituting  for  revelation,  conjectures  framed  in  our  own 
mind,  or  to  speculate  on  matters  concerning  which  we  have  an 
imperfect  knowledge  imparted  to  us  by  revelation,  and  could 
have  had,  without  it,  none  at  all.  But  this  would  be,  not  to  use 
but  to  abuse,  our  rational  faculties.  By  the  use  of  our  senses, 
which  are  as  much  the  gift  of  the  Creator  as  anything  else  we 
enjoy,  and  by  employing  our  reason  on  the  objects  around  us, 
we  can  obtain  a  certain  amount  of  valuable  knowledge.  And 
beyond  this,  there  are  certain  other  points  of  knowledge  unat- 
tainable by  these  faculties,  and  which  God  has  thought  fit  to 
impart  to  us  by  his  inspired  messengers.  But  both  the  vol- 
umes —  that  of  nature  and  that  of  revelation  —  which  he  has 
thought  good  to  lay  before  us,  are  to  be  carefully  studied.  On 
both  of  them  we  must  diligently  employ  the  faculties  with  which 
He,  the  author  of  both,  has  endued  us,  if  we  would  derive  the 
full  benefits  of  His  gifts. 

The  telescope,  we  know,  brings  within  the  sphere  of  our  vis- 
ion much  that  would  be  undiscernible  by  the  naked  eye ;  but 
we  must  not  the  less  employ  our  eyes  in  making  use  of  it ;  and 
we  must  watch  and  calculate  the  motions,  and  reason  on  the 
appearances  of  the  heavenly  bodies  which  are  visible  only 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  275 

through  the  telescope,  with  the  same  care  we  employ  in  respect 
of  those  seen  by  the  naked  eye. 

And  an  analogous  procedure  is  requisite  if  we  would  derive 
the  intended  benefit  from  the  pages  of  inspiration  ;  which  were 
designed  not  to  save  us  the  trouble  of  inquiring  and  reflecting, 
but  to  enable  us,  on  some  points,  to  inquire  and  reflect  to  bet- 
ter purpose,  —  not  to  supersede  the  use  of  our  reason,  but  to 
supply  its  deficiencies.^ 

On  those  points  above  alluded  to,  I  cannot  but  think  that  a 
moderate  degree  of  thoughtful  study  of  Scripture  —  not  taken 
at  random,  in  detached  passages,  as  if  we  were  consulting  the 
"Sortes  Biblicie,"  but  examined  in  the  same  way  in  which 
we  endeavor  to  get  at  the  true  sense  of  any  other  author,  on  a 
subject  which  we  are  really  anxious  to  understand  —  will  en- 
able us,  through  divine  help,  to  escape  those  perplexities  an^ 
errors  into  which  many  have  fallen. 

§  II.     To  begin,  then,  with  our  Lord's  own  declaration  re- 
specting the  self-denial  required  of  his  followers, 
we  find  that,  at  a  time  when  great  multitudes  were     re  Jecti!?ti"sdf- 
crowdinor  after  him,  in  eao-er  expectation  of  the     ^*'"'''''  sufferings, 

*-'  •'  o  i  and    sacrifices    re- 

speedy  commencement  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,     <i"'i-ed  of  jns  follow- 
ers, contrasted  with 

"  having  called  the  people  unto  him,  with  his  disci-     what  would  have 

_^  „       been  the  procedure 

pies  also,  he  said  unto  them.  Whosoever  will''     of  any,  especially 

n.  1.1'  1  ^  •  i/>  1.1  a  Jewish,  imnoster 

come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up     ^^  entfiusiast. 
his  cross,  and  follow  me ;  for  whosoever  will  ^ 
save  his  life  shall  lose  it,  but  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  for 
my  sake  and  the  gospel's,  the  same  shall  save  it." 

The  warning  He  here  gives  of  the  trials  and  sufferings  to  be 

1 1  have  treated  more  fully  on  this  point  in  Essay  III.  §  V. (Fourth  Series). 

2  The  original  has  ^e\ei:  «'  whosoever  is  desirous,^^  etc.  It  is  remarkable  that 
the  same  words  which  in  Mark  are  rendered  "  whosoever  shall  lose,"  are  ren- 
dered, in  the  corresponding  passage  of  Matthew,  "  whosoever  will  lose."  The 
former  Is  evidently  the  right  rendering  of  hs  tu/  diroXeVp. 


276  WIIATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

encountered  and  the  sacrifices  to  be  made  by  those  who  would 
be  truly  His  disciples,  is  of  a  piece  with  others  which  He  gave 
from  time  to  time,  both  to  the  "  people  "  —  the  multitudes  who 
were  as  yet  doubting  hearers  of  His  discourses,  —  and  to  those 
who  had  joined  the  number  of  His  followers. 

All  parties  were  agreed  in  expecting  that  if  He  were  indeed 
the  Christ,  he  would  shortly  enter  on  a  triumphant  temporal 
kingdom,  and  would  reign  with  his  adherents  in  earthly  splen- 
dor and  prosperity,  exempt  from  all  dangers  and  afflictions. 
Such  was,  and  is  to  this  day,  the  expectation  of  the  Jews  re- 
specting the  Messiah's  kingdom.  This  was  their  interpretation 
of  the  prophecies  concerning  that  kingdom.^  And  their  expec- 
tation was  strengthened  by  the  ancient  history  of  their  nation  ; 
the  Lord  having  governed  them  of  old  by  a  system  of  tempo- 
ral rewards  and  punishments  ;  promising,  and  giving,  victory, 
wealth,  and  worldly  peace  to  those  who  serve  him  faithfully ; 
which  promises,  and  many  signal  fulfilments  of  them,  we  find 
recorded  in  the  Old  Testament. 

It  is  impossible,  therefore,  to  doubt  (and  this  is  a  circumstance 
very  important  to  be  remarked)  that  any  impostor^  seeking  to 
raise  a  party  among  the  Jews  by  professing  to  be  the  long- 
looked-for  Messiah,  would  have  been  sure  to  fall  in  with  their 
expectations,  by  promising  to  his  followers  triumph  over  all 
enemies,  and  every  kind  of  worldly  prosperity  :  as  was  in  fact 
what  was  actually  held  forth  by  the  many  false  christs  of  whom 
Jesus  prophesied,  and  who  arose  not  long  after. 

And  an  enthusiast  would  hardly  have  failed  to  take  the 
same  course.  He  would  have  been  sure  to  fancy  himself  just 
such  a  triumphant  Messiah  as  the  imagination  of  all  the  Jewish 

1  And  there  are  some  who  teach  that  these  prophecies  are  to  be  fulfilled  in  that 
sense;  and  that,  after  all,  the  Jews  were  right  in  so  understanding  them,  and  in 
this  were  only  mistaken  as  to  the  time.  See  Lectures  on  a  Future  State,  Lect. 
VII. 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  277 

people  had  been  so  long  and  so  fondly  imagining ;  and  would 
accordingly  have  had  his  own  day-dreams  filled  with  those  vis- 
ions of  temporal  success  and  splendor  which  had  been  so  long 
and  intimately  associated  with  the  idea  of  the  Messiah's  king- 
dom. 

And,  indeed,  universally,  any  impostor  or  enthusiast  will  be 
likely  to  promise  his  followers  temporal  success  as  a  sign  of 
divine  favor ;  as  was  done  by  Mahomet,  who  was  probably  a 
mixture  of  the  two  characters.  But  much  more  would  this 
have  been  the  case  with  a  Jewish  impostor  or  enthusiast,  con- 
sidering how  deeply  rooted,  in  the  Jews,  was  the  notion  that 
victory  and  worldly  prosperity  was  a  mark  of  divine  favor,  and 
would  most  especially  distinguish  the  promised  Christ. 

Jesus,  on  the  contrary,  labored  to  repress  all  such  expecta- 
tions ;  and  held  forth  a  prospect  of  persecutions  and  hardships 
such  as  would,  instead  of  attracting,  tend  to  repel  the  greater 
part  of  his  countrymen  ;  not  only  through  the  reluctance  men 
feel  to  encounter  dangers  and  sufferings,  but,  also,  besides  this, 
through  the  "  offence  "  (as  it  is  called  in  the  New  Testament) 
—  the  shock  to  their  prejudices  —  thus  produced,  and  the 
consequent  difficulty  they  had  in  believing  that  that  could  be 
the  true  kingdom  of  God,  which  was  so  opposite  to  their  ex- 
pectations.^ "  There  went  great  multitudes  with  him,"  says 
Luke,^  "  and  he  turned  and  said  unto  them,  If  any  man  come 
to  me,  and  hate  not  his  father  and  mother  and  wife,  etc.,  yea, 
and  his  own  life  also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple  ;  and  whosoever 
doth  not  bear  his  cross  and  come  after  me,  cannot  be  my 
disciple.     For  which  of  you,  intending  to  build  a  tower,  sitteth 

1  "Thus  did  the  Saviour  come  '  unto  his  own,  and  his  own  received  him  not; ' 
thus  was  '  he  despised  and  rejected  of  men ; '  and  thus  were  the  prophecies  ful- 
filled that  not  only  '  the  Christ  should  suffer.,''  but  that  the  very  circumstance 
of  his  being  a  sufferer  should  be  interpreted  as  a  proof  of  divine  disfavor:  '  We 
did  esteem  him  smitten,  stricken  of  God,  and  afiiicted;  and  we  hid,  as  it  were, 
our  faces  from  him. '  "  —  Essays,  p.  293  (Fourth  Series). 
2  Chap.  xiv.  25. 

24 


278  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

not  down  first  and  counteth  the  cost,  whether  he  have  sufficient 
to  finish  it  ?  lest  haplj,  after  he  hath  laid  the  foundation,  and 
is  not  able  to  finish  it,  all  that  behold  it  begin  to  mock  him, 
saying,  This  man  began  to  build,  and  was  not  able  to  finish. 
....  So,  likewise,  whosoever  he  be  of  you  that  forsaketh  not 
all  that  he  hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple." 

We  find,  then,  Jesus  proceeding  not  only  in  a  different,  but 
in  a  totally  opposite  way  to  that  which  might  have  been  looked 
for  from  an  impostor  or  an  enthusiast, —  discouraging  the  expec- 
tations which  either  of  those  characters  would  have  cherished, 
and  holding  out  such  prospects  to  his  followers  as  would  be  likely, 
humanly  speaking,  to  dishearten  them,  and  which,  in  fact,  must 
have  overthrown  the  religion  altogether,  if  it  had  not  been  sup- 
ported by  supernatural  power.  And  thus  a  proof  is  afforded  to 
any  plain  Christian,  possessing  common  sense  and  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Bible,  that  Jesus  must  have  come  from  God. 

§  III.     Another  important  point  to  be  remarked  in  reference 
to  this  part  of  our  Lord's  teaching,  is,  that  the 

No  self-inflicted  ^     ^  07       7 

or  gratuitous  suf-  "  sclf-dcuial "  hc  is  spcakiug  of  consists  not  in 
the  "disciples  of  Self-inflicted  sufferings,  undergone  as  acceptable 
in  God's  sight,  —  in  sacrifices  and  privations 
voluntarily  endured  without  any  further  object,  but  merely  for 
their  own  sake,  as  a  part  of  Christian  virtue ;  or  of  dangers 
or  death  encountered  when  they  might  be  avoided  without  any 
desertion  of  the  Christian  cause.  He  is  speaking  of  the  hard- 
ships and  dangers  his  disciples  would  have  to  encounter  in 
preaching  the  gospel,  —  of  the  cruelties  that  would  be  inflicted 
on  them  by  his  enemies  for  adhering  to  him  ("  if  they  have 
persecuted  me,  they  will  also  persecute  you"),  —  of  the  en- 
mity they  would  incur  "  for  his  name's  sake."  But  he  mani- 
festly says  nothing  —  whatever  some  Christians  may  have  con- 
jectured as  to  his  meaning  —  of  their  inflicting  on  themselves 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  279 

any  kind  of  pain,  as  being,  for  its  own  sake,  and  simply  as 
pain,  a  laudable  service. 

Criminals  on  whom  was  inflicted  the  horribly  barbarous 
sentence  of  crucifixion,  were  compelled  to  carry  their  own 
"  cross  "  to  the  place  of  execution ;  and  again,  for  minor  offences, 
the  Romans  often  sentenced  a  criminal  simply  to  carry  a  cross.^ 
And  from  this  it  is  that  Jesus  draws  his  metaphor,  "  Let  him 
take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me ;  "  that  is,  let  him  be  prepared 
to  endure  patiently  whatever  sufferings  may  be  laid  on  him  in 
his  Christian  course.  The  precept  is  not,  it  should  be  observed, 
"  Let  him  bear  a  cross  "  or  "  the  cross,"  but  "  his  cross  ; "  ^  that 
is,  that  which  is  allotted  to  him.  So,  also,  in  the  parables  em- 
ployed of  a  man  going  to  build  and  of  a  king  about  to  make 
war,  and  who  do  not  fail,  if  they  are  prudent,  to  count  the  cost 
beforehand,  we  may  observe  that  the  cost  to  be  computed  is  the 
unavoidable  expense  of  the  undertaking.  They  do  not  regard  the 
expenditure  as  a  thing  desirable  in  itself,  and  to  be  sought  on  its 
own  account,  or  incurred  unnecessarily;  but  they  consider  how 
much  it  is  requisite  to  sacrifice  in  order  to  accomplish  the  object. 

And  the  very  strength  of  some  of  our  Lord's  expressions 
—  the  hyperbolical  and  paradoxical  form  which  they  often 
assume  —  serves,  and  w^as  doubtless  designed  to  serve,  the 
purpose  (in  this  as  in  many  other  cases)^  of  guarding  against 
mistaking  his  meaning.  If  he  had  bid  us  merely  "hate" 
riches  and  ease  and  comfort,  he  might  have  been  understood 
to  mean  that  Christians  would  be  the  more  acceptable  to  him 
for  renouncing  private  property,^  and  exposing  their  bodies  to 
the  sufferings  of  cold  and  hunger,  and  scourging  themselves 
with  knotted  cords,  according  to  the  "  discipline  "  (as  it  is  called) 

1  Whence  "  furcifer,"  "  cross-bearer,"  was  a  common  term  of  reproach  among 
the  Romans,  applied  to  the  vilest  characters. 

2  Thv  aravphv  avrov. 

8  See  above.    Essay  VIII. 

4  See  Note  at  the  end  of  Sermon  U.  on  "  Leaving  all  to  follow  Jesus." 


280  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

of  some  fanatics,  or,  like  the  Hindoos  at  this  day,  plunging 
into  their  flesh  iron  hooks,  by  which  they  are  suspended  and 
violently  swung  round.  But  when  he  says  that  a  man  must 
"  hate  his  father  and  mother,"  and  all  those  to  whom  duty  as 
well  as  affection  most  bind  him,  "  yea,  and  his  own  life  also," 
we  plainly  see  —  since  he  evidently  could  not  have  been 
enjoining  both  unnatural  cruelty  and  suicide  —  that  he  must 
have  been  inculcating  the  duty  of  being  ready  to  sacrifice  both 
our  strongest  attachments  and  even  life  itself,  when  called  on 
to  do  so  in  his  cause  ;  —  when  regard  for  friends,  or  love  of 
life,  shall  stand  in  the  way  of  our  devotedness  to  him  —  when, 
as  it  would  often  happen  in  the  times  of  persecution,  a  man 
was  obliged  to  make  choice  between  the  two,  and  renounce 
either  the  gospel  or  the  most  valued  goods  of  this  life,  and  life 
itself.  In  short,  the  "  self-denial "  he  required,  was,  a  readiness 
to  give  up  without  hesitation  anything  that  might  "offend," 
as  the  Scripture  phrase  is,  —  anything  that  might  prove  a 
hinderence  "  a  stumbling-block  "  in  the  path  of  Christian  duty. 
And  this  he  expresses  in  another  place  by  saying,  "  If  thine 
eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out ;  ....  if  thy  right  hand  offend 
thee,  cut  it  off  and  cast  it  from  thee."  He  does  not  tell  us  that 
it  is,  simply  and  absolutely,  a  good  thing  to  part  with  the  eye 
or  the  hand  —  that  is,  to  sacrifice  what  we  are  strongly  at- 
tached to  —  merely  because  the  sacrifice  is  painful,  but  when 
some  higlily-prized  object  is  an  impediment  ("  stumbling- 
hlock ")  in  our  Christian  course ;  in  short,  when  Christian 
duty  requires  the  sacrifice. 

§  IV.     Such  appears  to  have  been,  according  to  the  most 

Tendency  of    obvious  scusc  of  his  words,  our  Lord's  teaching 

"»l"l':re*     of  self-denial.     Let  us  compare  this  again,  and 

torture.  rathcp  morc  particularly,  with  what  might  have 

been  expected  from  an  impostor  or  an  enthusiast.     The  most 


OK  SELF-DENIAL.  281 

obvious  course  for  such  a  person  to  have  taken,  especially  a 
Jew  addressing  Jews,  would  have  been  (as  was  remarked 
above)  to  promise  his  followers  earthly  triumph  and  prosperity  ; 
and  if  he  perceived  that  it  was  necessary  to  prepare  them  to 
encounter  opposition,  he  would  assure  them,  at  least,  that  the 
struggle  would  end,  if  they  did  but  show  courage  in  temporal 
victory,  glory,  wealth,  and  enjoyment.  These  things  are  nat- 
urally the  objects  of  human  desire  ;  and  a  promulgator  of  any 
religious  system  that  should  require  little  or  no  self-denial  from 
his  followers,  and  which  should  promise  them,  along  with  the 
consolations  of  piety,  the  free  indulgence  and  gratification  of 
their  natural  desires,  —  such  a  man  would,  with  a  moderate 
share  of  plausible  eloquence,  be  -likely  to  find  willing  hearers. 

But  it  is  very  important  to  remark  that  there  is  in  mankind 
another,  and  a  much  more  strange  kind  of  tendency,  —  a  craving 
for  self-torture, —  for  self-denial  in  the  sense  of  sacrificing  what 
is  agreeable,  and  submitting  to  self-inflicted  suffering,  simply 
because  it  is  painful,  and  on  the  supposition  that  pain,  and  espe- 
cially a  gratuitous  endurance  of  it,  is,  in  itself,  acceptable  to  God. 

To  enter  fully  into  the  investigation  of  the  causes  of  this  dis- 
position in  mankind,  would  lead  into  too  wide  a  field  of  discus- 
sion. But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  arises  in  great  measure 
from  men's  observing  that  there  are  so  many  cases  in  which 
that  which  every  one  perceives  to  be  right  conduct,  necessarily 
involves  some  sacrifice  of  present  gratification.  Painful  toil 
is  often  requisite  for  a  man  to  perform  the  obvious  duty  of 
honestly  providing  for  his  family  ;  wounds  and  death  must  be 
encountered  in  fighting  for  one's  country  ;  riches  must  on  many 
occasions  be  sacrificed  by  one  who  would  preserve  his  integ- 
rity ;  and  the  like  in  many  other  cases.  Now,  admiration  being 
excited  by  the  self  denying  fortitude  which,  in  such  cases,  a 
virtuous  man  displays,  men  are  thus  led  to  associate  in  their 

minds  the  ideas  of  virtue  and  of  pain,  till  their  admiration 
24* 


282  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

is  at  length  transferred  to  self-denial  in  itself.  Perceiving 
that  Providence  has  appointed  that  in  so  many  cases  men  must, 
in  order  to  perform  their  duty,  encounter  pain  without  shrinking, 
they  are  at  length  led  to  conclude  that  the  voluntary  endurance 
of  pain,  without  any  ulterior  object,  must  be  acceptable  to  God. 

I  do  not  say  that  this  is  the  sole  cause,  but  it  is  evidently 
one  cause,  of  the  notion  I  am  alluding  to.  Be  this,  however, 
as  it  may,  of  the  fact  there  can  be  no  doubt.  We  find  traces 
of  this  feeling  in  almost  every  age  and  country.  We  find  the 
ancient  Canaanites  sacrificing  their  children  to  Moloch;  and 
the  priests  of  Baal  "  cutting  themselves  after  their  manner 
with  knives  and  lancets  "  at  his  altar.  We  find  the  modern 
Pagans  of  India  lacerating  their  flesh,  making  vows  not  to  lie 
down  for  a  certain  number  of  years,  but  to  sleep  standing 
a'^-ainst  a  tree,  or  to  submit  to  various  other  fantastic  self-tortures, 
—  drowning  themselves  in  the  Ganges,  burning  themselves 
alive,  and  practising  other  modes  of  self-immolation.  Among 
the  Mahometans,  again,  as  well  as  the  Pagans,  we  find  the  reli- 
gious devotees  called  fakeers  clothing  themselves  in  filthy  rags, 
and  living  as  mendicants.  And  we  find  the  Mahometan  fast 
of  Pamadan  kept  for  a  whole  month,  with  such  rigor  that  from 
sunrise  to  sunset  they  abstain  not  only  from  all  food,  but  even 
from  water,  in  a  climate  of  parching  heat. 

And  very  early  in  the  Christian  world  we  find  men  renowned 
for  their  holiness  in  proportion  to  their  self-inflicted  sufferings. 
We  read  of  some  who  excited  admiration  by  restricting  them- 
selves not  only  to  bread,  but  to  bread  mixed  with  ashes,  on 
purpose  so  render  it  distasteful ;  we  find  them  clothing  them- 
selves with  sackcloth  purposely  kept  in  a  state  of  disgusting 
filth  ;  standing  day  and  night  on  the  top  of  a  pillar ;  lying  on 
beds  of  flints,  and  taking  precautions  to  have  their  natural  rest 
even  there  interrupted  ;  excluding  the  light  of  day,  and  impris- 
oning themselves  in  dungeons ;  besides  scourgings  and  a  great 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  283 

variety  of  other  modes  of  self-torture,  onlj  to  be  exceeded  by 
those  of  the  Hindoo  idolaters.^ 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  then,  I  say,  of  the  fact  that  there  is 
a  tendency  in  human  nature  to  regard  pain,  privation  —  in  short, 
"  mortification  "  in  the  popular  sense  of  the  word  (which, 
as  I  shall  hereafter  have  occasion  to  point  out,  is  totally 
different  from  the  Scripture  sense) — especially  when  volun- 
tary, and  gratuitoulsy  self-inflicted,  as  acceptable  to  God. 
The  notion  evidently  is  not  derived  either  from  Christianity  as 
such,  or  from  Mahometanism,  or  from  Paganism,  or  from  any 
particular  form  of  Paganism,  since  it  is  found  in  these  various 
religions,  but  from  some  tendency  in  human  nature  itself. 

It  appears,  then,  that  not  only  an  active  and  eloquent  reli- 
gious teacher  who  should  proclaim  a  religion  of  self-indulgence 
and  worldliness  would  be  likely  to  gain  converts,  but,  also,  any 
superstitious  fanatic  or  crafty  impostor  who  should  exhibit  in 
himself,  and  recommend  to  others,  excessive  austerity  and  self- 
torture,  would  be  likely  to  excite  admiration  of  his  supposed 
hoUness,  and  faith  in  his  pretensions. 

And,  accordingly,  since  these  two  (seemingly  most  opposite) 
systems  —  that  of  complete  self-indulgence  and  that  of  ascetic 
self-mortification  —  have  each  something  to  recommend  it  to  the 
human  mind,  one  might  expect  that  any  one  teaching  a  reli- 
gion either  invented  or  modified  by  man,  would  adopt  one  or 
the  other  of  these  two  courses. 

§  Y.     In  fact,  we  find  that  in  most  cases  the  two  are  com.' 
hined.     Certain  persons,  or  certain  seasons,  we 
find  S3t  aside,  as  it  were,  for  the  practice  of  aus-     disposed  to  comtiZ 
terities  ;   and  a  kind  of  compensation  is  made     uons'^vit^gel'iral 
by  allowing  the  utmost  laxity  of  morals  in  other     licentiousness;  the 

''  teaching  of   Jesus 

persons,  or  at  other  times.     Thus  the  rigid  fast     keeping  clear  of 

both. 

of  Mahometans,  above  alluded  to,  during  one 
1  See  Note  A,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


284  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

month,  is  a  sort  of  compensation  for  general  sensuality ;  and 
the  austerities  habitually  practised,  or  supposed  to  be  practised, 
by  their  fakeers,  obtain  for  them  the  high  veneration  of  the 
multitude,  but  are  not  at  all  regarded  as  an  example  for  the 
multitude  to  follow.^  The  supposed  eminent  holiness  of  these, 
and  of  other  similar  ascetics  in  other  religions,  induces  the 
generality  of  the  people,  not  to  emulate  their  practice,  but 
to  seek  their  prayers  and  blessings.  And  by  none  are  such 
ascetics  usually  more  venerated  than  by  those  whose  own  lives 
are  spent  in  unbridled  licentiousness.  Such  a  system  of  religion, 
consequently,  is  calculated  to  suit  persons  of  the  most  various 
and  even  opposite  dispositions.  And  it  will  generally  be  found 
that  the  prevalence  in  any  religion  of  general  laxity  of  morals, 
and  of  severe  austerities,  will  nearly  keep  pace  with  each  other. 
The  greater  the  merit  attached  to  the  self-inflicted  sufferings 
of  certain  devotees,  the  greater  will  be  the  indulgence  for  a 
prevailing,  habitual  disregard  of  the  general  rules  of  morality. 
And  again,  the  stricter  the  requisition  of  severe  fasts  and  other 
mortifications,  at  certain  seasons,  according  to  certain  prescribed 
regulations,  the  less  is  the  general  self-restraint  at  other  times. 
Those  ancient  heathen  above  mentioned  who  lacerated  their 
flesh  and  burned  their  children  in  honor  of  their  gods,  were 
not  only  most  licentious  in  their  lives,  but  had  special  religious 
festivals  which  were  regularly  celebrated  by  intemperance  and 
profligacy.  And  the  modern  Hindoos,  according  to  the  best 
accounts,  seem  to  be  as  remarkable  for  the  absence  of  moral 
restraint  from  their  religion,  as  for  the  excessive  extravagance 
and  variety  of  its  mortifications  —  the  self-inflicted  penances 
above  alluded  to.  The  same  gods  whom  they  believe  to  be 
propitiated  by  severe  fasts,  and  mangling  of  the  flesh,  and  self- 
sacrifice  —  these  same  imaginary  gods  not  only  are  not  repre- 
sented as  requiring  of  their  votaries  habitual  temperance  and 

1  See  Essay  on  Vicarious  Religion  (Third  Series). 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  285 

purity  and  honesty  and  veracity,  but  are  even,  some  of  them, 
the  acknowledged  patrons  of  robbers  and  murderers  by  pro- 
fession ;  and  the  very  worship  of  many  of  them  is  celebrated 
in  festivals  of  the  grossest  licentiousness.^ 

And  the  further  any  one  extends  his  inquiries  into  the  his- 
tory of  all  nations,  ancient  and  modern,  the  more  reason  he 
will  see  to  be  convinced  that  any  religion  either  wholly  of 
man's  devising,  or  mixed  and  modified  and  corrupted  with  hu- 
man inventions,  is  likely  to  be  characterized  by  those  features  I 
have  described :  it  will  generally  be  found  to  place  religious 
excellence  more  in  self-inflicted  sufferings  than  in  moral  duty, 
—  to  prize  more  that  mortijication  which  consists  in  gratuitous 
endurance  of  pain  and  privation,  without  any  further  object, 
than  that  "  mortification  "  which  our  Scriptures  speak  of,  —  the 
habitual  repression  of  evil  passions. 

The  word  "  mortify  "  originally  signifies  —  as  well  as  the 
two  Greek  words  of  which  it  is  a  translation  —  to  "  put  to 
death."  And  it  is  invariably  used  by  the  sacred  writers  (doubt- 
less in  allusion  to  the  death  of  Christ  for  his  people,  whom  he 
came  to  "  save  from  their  sins  ")  in  the  sense  of  suppressing 
and  subduing  sinful  propensities,  and  bringing  the  body  into 
subjection  to  the  Spirit.  Never  once  do  they  employ  it  in 
reference  simply  to  pain  or  privation  as  such.  In  our  ordinary 
language,  on  the  contrary,  the  word  is  commonly  applied  to 
any  kind  of  suffering,  simply  as  suffering ;  in  which  sense 
either  scanty  or  unpleasant  food,  or  lying  on  a  bed  of  stones, 
scourging,  wearing  of  hair  cloth,  or  any  other  infliction  of 
pain,  would  be  called  "  mortification." 

It  would  be  vain  to  attempt  changing  the  established  language 
of  any  country ;  but  much  confusion  of  thought  and  error  are 
likely  to  arise  from  our  taking  a  word  in  its  popular  sense,  in 
passages  of  Scripture  in  which  it  has  invariably  a  different 

1  See  Ward,  on  the  Beliglon  of  the  Hindoos. 


286  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

sense.  For  instance,  the  Apostle  Paul  tells  us  (Col.  iii.  5), 
'•''Mortify  [vcKpcuo-a  e]  your  members  which  are  on  the  earth,  — 
fornication,  uncleanness,  inordinate  affection,  evil  concupiscence 
and  covetousness,"  etc. ;  and  again,  "  If  ye  live  after  the  flesh  " 
(that  is,  a  life  of  sensuality),  "  ye  shall  die;  but  if  ye  through 
the  Spirit  do  mortify  (^avarovre)  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye 
shall  live."  And  in  the  same  spirit  he  says  (Rom.  vi.  6), 
"  Knowing  this,  that  our  old  man  is  crucified  with  Christ,  that 
the  body  of  dn  might  be  destroyed,'^  etc. ;  and  again  (Gal.  v. 
24),  "  They  that  are  Christ's  have  crucified  the  flesh,  with  the 
affections  and  lusts." 

Now  if  from  Scripture,  whose  sense  seems  in  this  point  so 
very  plain  men  infer  that  "  mortification  "  is  well-pleasing  in 
God's  sight,  and  then  understand  "  mortification  "  in  the  popu- 
lar sense  as  the  simple  infliction  of  suffering  and  privation  of 
every  kind  —  this,  surely,  must  be  from  the  prevalence  of  that 
tendency  above  alluded  to,  —  the  tendency  to  seek  divine  favor 
by  self-torture  as  something  in  itself  acceptable  to  the  Deity .^ 

We  have  seen,  then,  what  was  our  Lord's  teaching,  and,  again, 
what  would  have  been  likely  to  be  the  teaching  of  a  supersti- 
tious enthusiast,  or  of  a  designing  impostor.  Any  one  not  sent 
from  God  would  have  been  likely  to  accommodate  himself  to 
the  dispositions  of  man,  either  by  allowing  to  his  zealous  dis- 
ciples a  relaxation  of  moral  obligations,  or  by  recommending 
self-inflicted  sufferings  as  a  laudable  service  of  God ;  or,  most 
likely,  by  hoth  together.  Jesus,  on  the  contrary,  does  neither. 
He  allows  of  no  exemptions  from  moral  duty,  —  no  shrinking 
from  dangers  and  sufferings  to  be  encountered  in  his  cause,  — 
no  refusal  to  bear  the  cross  that  may  be  allotted  to  each ;  and 
yet  never  enjoins  or  encourages  any  self-inflicted  pain,  or  need- 
less exposure  to  danger.  His  religion,  therefore,  as  taught  by 
himself,  differs  in  a  most  important  point  from  any  that  ever 

1  See  Kote  A,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  287 

was  devised,  either  wholly  on  or  in  part,  by  men.  And  this  is 
one  of  the  proofs,  open  to  any  man  of  plain  common  sense, 
which  may  furnish  an  answer  to  the  question,  "  Was  it  from 
heaven,  or  of  men  ?  " 

§  yi.  Further  proofs,  if  further  can  be  needed,  that  the 
srenuine  srospel  is  distinguished  from  all  human 

®  or-  o  ^  Tractice  of  the 

devices  by  that  peculiarity  which  has  been  here     aposties  contorma- 

-  r>       f»     1   •         -r  ^'®  *^  ^^^    lessons 

pomted  out,  —  yet  further  proot  oi  this,  1  say,  they  had  received 
may  be  furnished  by  the  conduct  of  Christ's  ™°^ 
immediate  followers.  We  find  them  cheerfully  undergoing 
toils  and  sufferings  of  various  kinds  in  the  propagation  of  the 
gospel,  —  submitting  to  imprisonment,  —  glorying  in  stripes, 
braving  various  dangers,  —  "  ready  not  to  be  bound  only,  but 
also  to  die,  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus," —  so  harassed 
and  persecuted  that  Paul  says,  "  If  in  this  life  only  we  have 
hope  in  Christ,  we  are  of  all  men  most  miserable."  And  yet  we 
not  only  find  no  mention  of  any  self-inflicted  sufferings  or  pri- 
vations, but  we  even  find  them  always  taking  care  to  preserve 
themselves  from  persecutions  and  all  other  outward  afflictions, 
whenever  this  could  be  done  without  any  detriment  to  the 
great  cause  they  were  engaged  in,  —  without  denying  their 
Master,  or  shrinking  from  his  service. 

Twice  we  find  Paul  pleading  his  rights  as  a  Roman  citizen, 
which  entitled  him  to  an  exemption  from  bonds  and  stripes 
when  uncondemned,  —  at  Phihppi,  where  he  boldly  rebuked  the 
magistrates  for  their  illegal  infliction  of  these  indignities,  and  at 
Jesusalem,  where  the  chief  captain  Lysias  was  alarmed  into 
forbearance.  How  is  this  to  be  reconciled  with  "  rejoicing  to 
be  thought  worthy  to  suffer  the  shame  of  stripes  for  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  ?  "  Evidently,  only  in  this  way  :  that  the 
"  cross  "  which  each  disciple  was  required  to  bear,  was  to  be 
his  cross,  —  that  the  endurance  of  suffering  was  then  only  a 


288  WHATELT'S  ESSAYS. 

Christian  virtue  when  it  was  not  self-imposed  —  when  it  was 
not  avoidaUe  except  by  the  abandonment  of  the  Christian 
cause.  The  persecutions  they  were  to  rejoice  in  must  not  be 
courted  persecutions,  but  only  such  as  were,  to  faithful  Chris- 
tians, inevitable. 

And  it  was  the  same  not  with  persecution  only,  but  with 
every  kind  of  danger  and  affliction  from  whatever  cause.  In 
the  narrative  of  Paul's  voyage  to  Rome,  we  find  him  taking 
every  precaution  against  the  impending  dangers  that  could 
have  been  expected  in  the  most  timorous  lover  of  life.  Paul, 
who  declares  that  to  him  to  "  die  was  gain,"  and  that  he  had 
"  a  desire  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better," 
—  this  very  man  remonstrated  with  the  centurion  against  put- 
ting to  sea  at  a  dangerous  season.  And  afterwards,  when  the 
ship  strikes,  although  it  had  been  revealed  to  him  that  no  lives 
would  be  lost,  yet  understands  (which  is  a  very  remarkable 
circumstance)  that  this  implied  the  use  of  all  ordinary  human 
means  to  insure  safety,  and  that  he  was  bound  not  to  neglect 
the  use  of  these  means.  He  takes  measures  to  prevent  the 
desertion  of  the  mariners,  without  whom,  he  tells  the  centurion, 
"ye  connot  he  saved." 

In  short,  throughout  the  whole  of  the  sacred  narrative  we 
find  the  apostles  acting  fully  up  to  the  spirit  of  their  Lord's 
instructions  ;  ready  to  "  pluck  out  the  eye,"  or  "  cut  off  the 
hand  "  if  it  "  offend,"  but  not  otherwise ;  ready,  each  to  "  bear 
his  cross,"  —  his  own  cross,  —  the  burden  of  affliction  which 
Providence  might  see  fit  should  be  laid  on  him,  but  no  other. 
"We  find  them,  in  their  Christian  warfare,  acting  the  part  of 
good  and  faithful  soldiers,  whose  duty  is  to  endure  cheerfully 
hardship  and  toil,  —  to  brave  wounds  and  death,  when  sum- 
moned to  do  so  in  the  course  of  their  service,  —  to  shrink  from 
nothing  that  they  are  commanded  to  do  or  to  bear ;  but  never 
to  expose  themselves  wantonly  to  danger  when  not  commanded, 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  289 

nor  to  inflict  on  themselves,  merely  in  ostentation  of  their 
fortitude,  any  sufferings  or  privations  that  have  no  other  object. 
Such  was  the  apostles'  interpretation  of  their  Lord's  teach- 
ing ;  and  such  was  the  example  they  left  us  of  obedience  to 
him. 

§  Vn.  How  soon,  and  how  much,  Christians  of  later  ages 
perverted  that  teaching,  and  departed  from  that  introduction  into 
example,  is  well  known.     Early  introduced,  and     <^"-««<'«»  c/turcJies 

*■  •'  ■'of  ascetic  self-tor- 

widely  spread,  and  hard  to  be  eradicated,  and     '»'•«''  '^^  opposition 

to  the  precepts  and 

easily  revived,  is  the  notion  of  a  man's  becoming,     practice  of  jesus 

-  and  his  apostles,  a 

by  a  presumptuous  will-worship  —  by  perform-  proof  of  their  di- 
ance  of  supposed  services  that  have  not  been  en-  ""'"^  mission. 
joined — a  sort  of  saviour  to  himself;  or  of  atoning  himself  for 
his  own,  and  even  for  his  neighbor's  sins.  And  the  introduc- 
tion of  such  notions  and  practices  into  the  religion  of  the 
gospel,  contrary  to  its  original  and  proper  character,  shows  more 
plainly  even  than  the  instances  of  the  Pagan  religions,  how 
suitable  to  the  "  natural  man "  is  the  kind  of  "  will-worship," 
and,  consequently,  how  sure  we  should  have  been  to  find  it  in 
the  teaching  of  Jesus,  and  in  the  precepts  and  practice  of  the 
apostles,  if  these  men  had  not  been  indeed  from  God. 

Soon  did  men  arise  in  the  Christian  churches,  "speaking 
perverse  things,  to  draw  away  disciples  after  them,"  distorting 
and  misapplying  the  apostolic  precepts  and  practice  which  they 
professed  to  follow,  and  pretending  to  imitate  the  apostles  by 
inflicting  on  themselves  such  pains  and  privations  as  those 
apostles  endured  patiently  when  occurring  in  their  path  of 
Christian  duty. 

The  true  way  to  imitate  the  apostles  is  by  enduring,  like 
them,  not  whatever  may  appear  to  us  to  afford  the  most  admi- 
rable display  of  fortitude,  but  whatever  trials  are  appointed  to 
each  man,  —  not  by  going  out  of  our  way  to  create  trials  for 
2^ 


290  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

ourselves,  but  by  steadily  walking  in  the  way  wbicli  God's 
providence  has  marked  out  for  each  of  us.  Christian  self- 
denial  consists  not  in  volunteering  self-torture,  but  in  "  denying 
ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and  in  living  "  (not  at  this  or 
that  particular  season,  but  always)  "  soberly,  righteously,  and 
godly  in  this  present  life." 

If  the  amount  of  pain  endured,  and  the  degree  of  resistance 
to  inclination  —  if  self-denial  in  this  sense  were  to  be  the 
measure  of  Christian  excellence,  then  the  Christian  would,  in 
proportion  as  he  advanced,  be  contmually  becoming  less  and  less 
acceptable  in  God's  sight.  For  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  restraint  of  bad  propensities,  and  the  practice  of  temperance, 
beneficence,  gentleness,  and  every  Christian  virtue,  become 
continually  easier  as  the  Christian  character  improves.  Those 
therefore  who  adopt  such  a  standard  as  that  just  mentioned, — 
who  make  self-denial,  in  the  sense  qi  iiainful  mortification,  the 
measure  of  their  Christian  proficiency  —  must  resort  to  self- 
torture,  and  go  on  continually  devising  fresh  modes  of  making 
their  service  of  God  as  irksome  as  possible ! 

And  yet,  strange  as  it  appears,  many  are  more  readily 
induced  to  adopt  tins  course  than  that  which  the  gospel  really 
points  out  to  us.  Habitual  self-control,  and  readiness  and  firm- 
ness in  the  performance  of  each  appointed  duty,  whether 
agreeable  or  painful,  is  a  kind  of  self-denial  which  is,  as  exj^e- 
rience  shows,  more  difl[icult  to  the  "  natural  man "  than  occa- 
sional, or  even  habitual  austerities,  and  self-imposed  hardships 
and  pains. 

But  for  this  more  difficult  task  —  for  the  practice  of  truly 
Christian  self-denial  —  we  have  the  promised  aid  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  which  "  helpeth  our  infirmities  " ;  and,  through  that  help, 
the  subjugation  of  all  evil  passions,  the  "  mortifying  of  the  deeds 
of  the  flesh,"  however  painful  at  first,  will  continually  become 
easier  in  proportion  as  the  Christian  moral  character  improves. 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  291 

Obedience  to  Christ's  commands  will  continually  become,  to 
those  "  who  are  led  by  his  Spirit,"  less  and  less  of  self-denial, 
because  each  man's  self —  his  very  nature  and  character  —  will 
become  more  and  more  conformed  to  the  image  of  Christ ;  and 
his  faithful  followers  will  more  and  more  find,  from  their  own 
happy  experience,  that  his  "yoke  is  easy,  and  his  burden 
light" 

§  VIII.  A  considerable  part,  however,  of  the  difficulties 
which  occur  to  some  minds  in  reference  to  the 

Indistinct    and 

present  subject,  arise  from  the  frequent  men-     confused   notions 

CK      '  (,        (%       .  respecting  fasting, 

tion  m  ibcripture  of  "  fasting ;      which,  having     arising  from  inat- 

1  '         n.         ,•  n  •    •        T  It         ten  tion  to  the  sen- 

Deen  m  aiter  times  oiten  enjoined,  recommended,  ses  of  the  word  and 
or  practised,  as  a  part  of  "  self-denial "  or  "  mor-  I'^'obScro?  The 
tification  "  (in  the  popular  sense  of  those  words),  ^^^*'^^^' 
and  some  having  hastily  taken  for  granted  that  it  is  prescribed 
or  commended  in  Scripture,  with  that  view,  —  that  is,  on  the 
ground  that  self-inflicted  suffering  or  privation  is,  as  such,  an 
acceptable  service,  —  the  inference  has  been  drawn  that  the 
character  of  our  religion  must  be,  in  that  point  at  least,  opposite 
to  what  has  been  just  above  described. 

Others,  again,  have  supposed  that  fasting  —  as  distinguished 
from  scourging,  wearing  of  sackcloth,  and  all  other  self-inflicted 
hardships  —  is  a  positive  ordinance  of  the  gospel ;  or,  again, 
that  it  is  a  moral  duty,  or  at  least  a  Christian  virtue,  and  one 
which  we  should  endeavor,  in  some  way  or  other,  to  practise. 

And  many,  I  believe,  have  a  sort  of  vague,  undefined,  gen- 
eral impression  left  on  the  mind,  composed  of  all  these  different 
notions  confusedly  blended  together,  which  leads  to  a  perplex- 
ing and  painful  state  of  doubt  on  the  subject.  Nothing,  in- 
deed, but  confusion  of  thought,  and  distressing  uncertainty  as  to 
conduct,  can  be  the  result  of  an  attempt  to  follow  the  guidance 
of  Scripture  without  taking  the  pains  to  examine  and  carefully 


292  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

reflect  on  what  we  read.  And  jet  there  are  persons  who,  in 
reference  to  the  present  subject,  have  never  even  thought  of 
inquiring  as  to  several  points  which  must  present  themselves 
to  any  one  who  is  seeking  to  obtain  distinct  notions  concern- 
ing it. 

What  is  meant  by  the  word  "  fasting,"  in  Scripture,  and 
whether  it  is  always  the  same  thing  that  is  meant  in  every 
place  where  the  word  occurs,  —  with  what  view  it  was  in  each 
case  practised  by  those  whom  we  read  of  as  fasting,  —  whether 
simply  as  a  self-inflicted  suffering,  or  as  a  penance,  or  as  a  dis- 
cipline resorted  to  for  the  repression  of  any  sinful  propensity, 
or,  again,  merely  as  an  outward  sign  of  mourning, —  whether  any 
kind  of  fast  is  enjoined  in  Scripture,  so  as  to  bind  Christians 
in  all  ages ;  and  again,  if  it  he  a  duty,  in  what  manner  it  is  to 
be  performed,  and  whether  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  natural 
moral  duty  like  that  of  integrity  or  beneficence,  or  of  a  positive 
ordinance  like  the  Jewish  passover  or  the  Christian  eucharist, 
—  all  these  are  questions  naturally  occurring  to  the  mind  of 
one  who  is  not  satisfied  with  notions  utterly  vague  and  con- 
fused, and  which  yet  some  persons  have  not  inquired  into 
at  all.  Nay,  one  may  even  meet  with  persons  who  have 
hardly  ever  thought  of  considering  attentively  the  diflTerence, 
generally,  between  what  are  called  positive  precepts,  and  moral 
precepts  —  between  things  which  are  right  because  they  are 
commanded,  and  those  which  are  commanded  because  they  are 
right. 

There  are  many  who  would  probably  state  this  distinction 
correctly  if  the  question  were  put  to  them  in  the  abstract,  who 
yet  are  perpetually  losing  sight  of  it  in  practice,  especially  in 
what  relates  to  the  following  of  apostolic  example,  copying 
apostolic  precedents,  etc.  On  the  one  hand,  natural  (moral) 
duties,  being  such  independently  of  express  command,  the  pre- 
cepts relative  to  these  are  to  be  regarded  rather  as  a  "  stir- 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  293 

ring  up  of  a  pure  mind  bj  way  of  remembrance  "  (2  Pet.  iii.), 
than  as  the  enactment  of  a  new  rule ;  and  the  examples  set 
before  us  are  rather  an  illustration  of  a  principle,  and  an  incite- 
ment to  emulation,  than  patterns  to  be  minutely  copied.  None 
but  a  disingenuous  caviller  would  require  to  be  told  precisely 
what  portion  of  his  income  he  should  give  in  charity,  on  what 
occasions,  and  in  what  mode,  he  should  practise  integrity  or 
temperance  ;  and  whether  these  duties  were  to  be  such  perma- 
nently, or  only  for  a  temporary  emergency.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  respect  of  things  originally  and  intrinsically  indiffer- 
3nt,  —  such  as  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  ecclesiastical  regula- 
tions of  all  kinds,  —  we  may  expect  clear  commands  and  precise 
directions  as  to  anything  that  we  are  to  be  bound  to  do  ;  and  any 
recorded  practice  of  the  apostles  must  be  (if  so  intended)  dis- 
tinctly declared  to  be  a  precedent  which  all  future  ages  are 
strictly  bound  to  conform  to.  For  instance,  the  command  is 
distinct  to  commemorate  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  —  to  "  show 
forth  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come,''  —  by  partaking  of  bread 
and  wine ;  but  the  use  of  leavened  or  of  unleavened  bread 
(which  latter  we  know  must  have  been  used  at  the  institution 
of  the  rite),  and  the  retaining  or  discontinuing  of  the  love- 
feasts  (agap^e),  which  we  know  used  in  early  times  to  succeed 
the  eucharist ;  and,  again,  the  posture  of  the  communicants, 
and  the  form  of  administration,  —  these  points,  since  no  dis- 
tinct directions  as  to  them  are  given,  seem  left  to  the  discretion 
of  each  church;  and  are  considered  (which  is  worthy  of 
remark)  as  thus  left  at  large,  even  by  those  who  pretend  to 
hold  that  every  apostolic  usage  is  absolutely  binding  on  all 
Christians  for  ever.  And  it  is  the  same  with  other  similar 
cases.  In  such  points,  to  follow  "'  apostolic  example  "  is  to 
"  let  all  things  be  done  to  edifying." 

The  two  opposite  errors  —  that  of  expecting,  in  respect  of 
points  of  natural  morality,  to  find  in  Scripture  distinct  com- 
25* 


294  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

mands  and  detailed  directions  as  to  every  case  that  can  arise, 
and  that  of  regarding,  in  respect  of  things  intrinsically  indif- 
ferent, every  recorded,  or  even  suspected,  apostolic  usage  as 
a  precedent  and  model  from  which  no  Christians  must  venture 
ever  to  depart,  though  there  be  no  injunction  in  Scripture  to 
that  effect  (which  principle,  however,  none  of  those  who  main- 
tain it  have  ever  fully  followed  out  with  honest  consistency)  — 
these  two  opposite  errors,  each  imply  a  confounding  together  of 
"  natural  "  and  "  positive  "  obligation. 

And,  indeed,  attentive  reflection  altogether,  and  patient  and 
careful  study  of  what  Scripture  teaches,  —  anything  answering 
to  that  diligent  attention  with  which  any  one  applies  himself 
to  any  history,  art,  or  science  which  he  is  anxious  to  learn,  — 
all  this  —  as  I  have  observed  above  —  is  what  too  many  men 
seem  to  regard  as  needless,  or  even  as  improper,  in  respect  of 
religious  concerns  :  as  if  we  were  to  be  instructed  in  Chris- 
tian faith  and  practice  by  simply  opening  the  Bible  at  hazard, 
and  taking  any  passage  that  happens  to  meet  the  eye,  and 
attaching  to  it  any  meaning  that  happens  to  occur  to  the  mind. 

The  varieties  of  practice  which  have  arisen  in  various 
countries  and  ages  in  respect  of  the  present  subject,  are 
such  as  might  have  been  expected  from  the  various  and 
often  vague  and  ill-defined  notions  that  have  existed  in  the 
minds  of  different  persons.  Some  have  considered  that  fast- 
ing is  to  be  practised  by  Christians  as  a  kind  of  imitation 
of  the  fast  of  their  Master  in  the  wilderness  at  the  time  of 
his  temptation.  And  indeed  in  the  greater  part  of  Christendom 
the  commemoration  of  that  event  has  long  been  made,  partly 
by  some  kind  of  fast  established  as  a  church  ordinance; 
though  it  can  be  but  a  symbolical  and  figurative  reference  that 
any  such  fast  can  have  to  the  event  commemorated.  It  evi- 
dently cannot  be  a  direct  imitation  of  Christ's  example  ;  since 
his  abstinence,  supposing  it  to  have  been,  as  it  appears,  from 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  295 

food  altogetlier,  must  have  been  perfectly  miraculous  ;  and 
since  we  are  also  expressly  told  that  it  was  not  till  the  end 
of  the  forty  days  that  he  was  assailed  by  the  temptation  of 
hunger. 

Again,  some  have  regarded  fasting  as  dependent  on  the 
quality,  others  on  the  quantity,  of  the  food  taken,  and  others 
on  both ;  while  some,  again,  have  considered  it  as  consisting  in 
total  abstinence  from  all  food.  The  Mahometans,  whose  reli- 
gion is  based  on  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  (such  as  Ma- 
homet found  them),  take  this  last  view  ;  and  during  the  fast- 
month  of  Ramadan  above  alluded  to,  regard  the  swallowing 
of  even  a  drop  of  water  between  sunrise  and  sunset  as  a  vio- 
lation of  the  fast.  Of  the  same  character,  also,  are  reported  to 
be  the  fasts  of  the  Abyssinian  Christians ;  while  others,  again, 
lay  no  restriction  even  on  the  use  of  strong  liquors,  and  make 
everything  depend  on  the  distinction  between  different  kinds 
of  meats. 

And  there  prevails  a  still  greater  degree,  if  possible,  of 
variety  of  opinion,  uncertainty,  and  confusion  of  thought,  as  to 
the  grounds  of  the  practice,  —  whether  it  is  to  rest  on  the 
authority  of  Scripture,  or  of  a  church  —  as  to  the  character 
of  it,  —  whether  it  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  moral  or  as  a  positive 
duty ;  and  again,  as  to  the  object  of  it,  —  whether  it  is  to  be 
observed  as  a  mode  of  self-inflicted  pain  (like  the  flint  bed  or 
the  scourge),  and  as  being  on  that  ground  acceptable  to  God, 
or,  again,  as  a  mode  of  bringing  the  body  into  subjection  to  the 
Spirit,  in  the  way  of  weakening  evil  passions  and  fortifying 
the  intellectual  and  moral  portions  of  the  mind.  And  the 
employment  (as  was  observed  above)  of  the  word  "  mortifica- 
tion "  in  different  senses,  —  to  denote  sometimes  the  one,  and 
sometimes  the  other,  of  these  two  things,  —  contributes  to  in- 
crease the  vagueness  and  perplexity  I  have  been  alluding  to. 
That  word  is  conmionly  applied,  as  has  been  already  remarked, 


296  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

in  ordinary  language,  —  not  (in  the  scriptural  sense)  to  the 
subjugation  of  sin,  but  to  any  kind  of  suffering  simply  as  suf- 
fering. And  in  this  sense  it  has  no  special  reference  to  fasting, 
more  than  to  any  other  kind  of  painful  privation.  Abstinence 
from  food,  or  confinement  to  scanty  or  to  unpleasant  food,  or 
privation  of  sleep,  or  walking  barefoot  on  rugged  stones,  or 
kneeling  in  a  painful  posture,  or  wearing  of  hair  cloth  or  of 
disgustingly  filthy  garments,  or  any  other  infliction  of  pain, 
would  equally  be  called  a  "  mortification."  ^ 

To  attempt  to  discuss  fully  all  the  several  questions  that 
pertain  to  this  subject,  would  be  to  enter  on  too  wide  a  field  of 
inquiry.  But  something  will  have  been  gained,  if  we  can  but 
clear  up  the  sense  of  some  of  those  passages  of  Scripture 
which  have  been  indistinctly  or  erroneously  understood,  and 
which  have  consequently  occasioned  difficulty  and  distressing 
doubt,  and  erroneous  practice. 

§  IX.     First,  then,  we  should  mark  and  set  aside  all  those 
passages  (and  there  are  several)  in  which  "  fast- 

The  word "  fast "       .         „    .  ,  p    •         i  •         ■,  o      -i 

often  used  to  dc-     mg     IS  spoKCu  OT  m  the  scusc.  Simply,  of  ab- 

note,  simply,  want  i?/>i  r*         ne*    '        ,    r       i  n 

of  food,  without  sence  ot  food,  or  or  sulfacient  lood,  or  oi  regu- 
J^rraTstinencl"'*"  ^^^  mcals,  without  any  reference  to  a  voluntary 
act,  or  any  connection  with  religion. 

Such  is,  for  instance,  the  passage  (Acts  xxvii.)  where,  in 
the  course  of  the  narrative  of  the  storm  which  Paul  and  his 
companions  encountered  on  the  voyage  to  Rome,  it  is  mentioned 
that  they  had  "  fasted  fourteen  days,  having  taken  nothing  : " 
by  which,  of  course,  we  must  understand  merely  that  they  had 
taken  no  regular  meals  in  all  that  time,  but,  in  the  midst  of 
the  unceasing  terror,  and  exertion,  and  confusion  occasioned 
by  the  tempest,  had  only  occasionally  snatched  a  morsel  of 
food  sufficient  to  sustain  life. 

This  kind  of  distress  —  besides  many  others  —  Paul  was 
1  See  Note  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  297 

frequently  exposed  to  in  his  many  sea-voyages  and  land-jour- 
neys, on  occasions  not  recorded  in  the  book  of  Acts  ;  as  we 
learn  from  his  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (xi.  27), 
where  he  speaks  of  himself  as  having  been  "  in  weariness  and 
painfulness,  in  watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings 
often,  in  cold  and  nakedness,"  etc. 

That  the  "  fastings  "  of  which  he  is  here  speaking  are  of 
the  description  just  mentioned,  and  not  any  kind  of  religious 
exercise,  is  plain  from  the  context ;  as  he  is  manifestly  enumer- 
ating not  his  devotional  practices,  but  his  hardships  and  trials. 

His  "  fastings,"  accordingly,  —  amounting  occasionally  not 
merely  to  pain  from  hunger  and  thirst,  but  to  distressing  famine, 
—  are  mentioned,  not  along  with  prayers  and  meditations,  but 
with  "  perils  "  and  "  stripes "  and  "  stonmg."  And  it  is  ob- 
servable also  that  the  "  watchings  "  which  he  likewise  mentions 
in  the  same  place,  have  no  reference  to  any  sort  of  voluntary 
exercise.  In  our  version,  indeed,  the  word  corresponds  with 
that  in  our  Lord's  exhortation  to  "  watch  and  pray ; "  but  in  the 
original  quite  different  words  are  employed.  In  the  exhorta- 
tion, to  "  watch  "  {ypr]yoa.v)  is  to  be  vigilant  like  a  sentinel ;  in 
Paul's  description  of  his  sufferings,  "  watching "  {aypvirvia) 
means  "  privation  of  sleep,"  —  "  want  of  repose. "  And  the 
same  words  are  employed  in  the  same  manner  when  he  speaks, 
in  another  place,  of  being  "  in  distresses,  in  stripes,  in  imprison- 
ments, in  tumults,  in  labors,  in  watchings,  m fastings" 

On  many  occasions,  again,  fasting,  —  in  the  other,  and  now 
more  popular  sense ;  that  is,  voluntary  absti-  Fasting  an  ordi- 
nence,  —  is  mentioned  both  in  the  Old  and  New  rompantaent,  a^ 
Testaments ;  sometimes  as  a  customary  and  estab-  S^  u^agro^nleill-r 
lished  sign  of  mourning,  along  with  wearing  of  "'^  ^^"^  °^  prauer. 
sackcloth  and  sprinkling  of  ashes  on  the  head,  and  sometimes, 
again,  as  an  ordinary  accompaniment  of  especially  solemn 
prayer,  according  to  ancient  Eastern  custom, 


298  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

Besides  many  other  parts  of  the  Old  Testament,  we  may 
perceive  from  the  narrative  of  David's  fasting  and  weeping  for 
his  child  when  it  was  sick,  and  of  the  surprise  of  his  servants 
at  his  not  fasting  after  it  was  dead,  how  well  known  and  cus- 
tomary a  sign  it  was  both  of  mourning  and  of  earnest  devotion. 
And  the  only  fast  appointed  by  the  law  of  Moses,  that  on  the 
great  day  of  atonement  (Levit.  xxiii.  26),  —  in  which,  by  the 
way,  the  word  "fast "  does  not  itself  occur,  nor  any  special  refer- 
ence to  abstinence  from  food,  —  the  Israelites  are  directed  to 
"  afflict  their  souls ; "  that  is,  to  keep  a  day  of  solemn  "  mourn- 
ing:' 

Then,  again,  it  was  also,  as  I  have  said,  a  customary  accom- 
paniment of  prayer,  among  the  Jews,  and  those  who  adopted 
their  usages  ;  as  we  may  collect  from  several  incidental  noti- 
ces. For  instance,  the  Prophetess  Anna  is  mentioned  as  one 
who  served  God  habitually  in  the  temple  with  "  fasting  and 
prayer ; "  and  Cornelius  the  centurion,  as  "  fasting  and  pray- 
ing" in  his  house  when  the  angel  appeared  to  him.  And 
several  other  such  cases  are  incidentally  recorded. 

Of  course  we  cannot  suppose  that  fasting  was  an  accompani- 
ment of  every  prayer,  else  there  would  be  no  need  ever  to  men- 
tion it  at  all ;  but  only,  we  may  suppose,  on  those  more  solemn 
occasions  when  a  certain  time  was  set  apart  for  a  course  of 
prayer.  And  such,  I  conceive,  must  have  been  the  "prayer 
and  fasting  "  alluded  to  by  our  Lord  in  reference  to  the  demo- 
niac whom  the  disciples  had  failed  to  relieve.  They  had  not, 
we  know,  unlimited  power,  as  their  Master  had,  of  working 
miracles.  It  was  given  them  on  certain  occasions;  and  the 
giving  of  it  was,  in  some  way  or  other,  intimated  to  them ; 
as,  on  Peter,  for  instance,  the  power  of  walking  on  the  sea 
was  conferred  by  his  Lord's  command.  And  we  fmd  them 
sometimes  praying  for  the  power  to  perform  a  certain  miracle  ; 
as,  we  may  collect,  was  done  by  Peter  before  he  raised  up 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  299 

Tabitha  from  death  (Acts  ix.).  In  the  case  of  that  demoniac, 
it  should  seem  that  our  Lord  tells  the  disciples  they  should  not 
have  attempted  to  perform  the  cure  without  having  first  re- 
ceived some  clear  intimation  of  their  commission  to  perform  it, 
such  as  should  remove  all  doubt  from  their  minds  (whence  he 
tells  them  that  they  failed  from  want  of  faith  ;  that  is,  they 
proceeded  while  in  a  state  of  uncertainty)  ;  and  that  in  order  to 
obtain  such  assurance,  they  should  have  first  resorted  to  a 
course  of  special,  persevering  supplication  for  the  miraculous 
power,  —  to  that,  in  short,  which  they  would  understand  him  to 
mean  by  "  prayer  and  fasting." 

We  also  find  prayer  and  fasting  mentioned  in  the  book  of 
Acts  on  the  occasion  of  the  ordaining  of  ministers  ;  an  occa- 
sion on  which  a  solemn  course  of  prayer  (such  as,  according  to 
Jewish  usage,  was  accompanied  by  fasting)  was  to  be  looked  for. 

§  X.  What  the  kind  of  abstinence  was  that  the  Jews  were 
accustomed  to  use  on  such  occasions,  we   are 

.  1  1    •       o      •  Strong  hijunctions 

nowhere  told  m  ll^cripture.  to  i-,rauer  by  our 

It  is  remarkable  that  though  neither  prayer     TesfamcVt!'^  ^uitl 

nor  fastinor  occupy  any  considerable  place  in  the     ^'ff^''^"'  ^j^™  i^'^ 

o  i.  J  J  i.  mention  of  fasting. 

Mosaic  law,  —  no  prayer  at  all  being  enjoined, 
except  in  one  passage  (Deut.  xxvi.),  where  the  Israelite  is 
directed,  on  the  occasion  of  a  festival  occurring  but  once  in 
three  years,  to  implore  God's  blessing  on  his  people,  —  yet  both 
prayer  and  fasting  were  practised  by  the  Jews  of  their  own 
accord.  It  is  also  remarkable  that  notwithstanding  they  did 
habitually  practise  the  duty  of  prayer,  yet  our  Lord  deemed 
it  needful  to  give  very  frequent  and  earnest  injunctions  to 
that  effect ;  exhorting  men  to  "  pray  always  and  not  to  faint," 
and  enforcing  his  precepts  by  several  parables,  lest  in  after 
ages  prayer  should  fall  into  disuse.^     For  fasting,  on  the  other 

1  See  Lectures  on  the  Parables,  Lee.  X. 


300  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

hand,  neither  he  nor  his  apostles  give  any  injunction  at  all  as 
making  it  any  part  of  Christian  duty. 

But  it  was  our  Lord's  general  rule  to  leave  untouched  all 
the  existing  customs  of  his  own  age  and  country,  except  where 
they  were  sinful,  —  where  the  Pharisees  had  "  made  the  word 
of  God  of  none  effect  through  their  tradition." 

He  censures  also  the  ostentatious  manner  in  which  both 
prayer  and  fasting  ^^ere  practised  by  the  Pharisees ;  exhort- 
ing men  to  make  no  pubUc  display  of  those  devotions  which 
were  of  a  private  character.  Public  worship  in  the  temple  and 
in  the  synagogues  it  is  plain  He  never  meant  to  forbid ;  but 
it  is  for  offering  up  their  prayers  in  the  streets  and  in  the  mar- 
ket-place that  He  censures  the  hypocrites.  Those  prayers  and 
fasts  of  these  men,  which  were  thus  ostentatiously  displayed, 
evidently  did  not  profess  to  be  any  part  of  the  established 
public  worship.  And  when  He  was  asked,  reproachfully,  why 
His  disciples  did  not,  like  those  of  the  Pharisees  and  of  John, 
practise  fasting,  there  is  no  imputation  cast  on  Him  for  a  viola- 
tion of  the  law,  or  neglect  of  any  public  ordinance  ;  but  merely 
wonder  and  blame  are  expressed  that,  while  He  professed  to  be 
a  religious  teacher,  his  disciples  should  exhibit,  apparently,  a 
less  religious  mode  of  life,  in  one  respect,  than  the  followers  of 
John  and  of  the  Pharisees. 

His  answer  to  the  inquiry  has  reference  to  what  I  have 
above  remarked,  —  of  fasting  being  understood  as  an  accompan- 
iment and  sign  of  mourning  :  (Matt.  ix.  15)  "  Can  the  children 
of  the  bride-chamber  mourn "  (in  Mark  ii.  19  the  word  is 
'^fast  ")  "as  long  as  the  bridegroom  is  with  them?  But  the 
days  will  come  when  the  bridegroom  shall  be  taken  from  them, 
and  then  will  they  fast."  A  wedding  was,  we  know,  a  scene 
of  especial  festivity  among  the  Jews  ;  with  which  anything 
savoring  of  mourning,  among  the  bridegroom's  companions 
(the  "  children  of  the  bride-chamber  "  )  would  have  been  incon- 
sistent ;  but  when  the  bridegroom  (by  which  it  is  plain   He 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  301 

means  Himself )  shall  be  taken  from  them,  "  then,"  says  He, 
"  they  will  fast  in  those  days." 

From  this  passage  is  is  plain,  among  other  things,  that 
neither  our  Lord  nor  the  questioners  had  any  thought  of  self- 
discipline  as  a  legitimate  purpose  of  "  fasting  "  (a  notion  which 
arose  several  years  after)  ;  for  in  that  point  of  view  the  disci- 
ples would  have  needed  it  while  their  Lord  was  with  them,  as 
well  as  afterwards  ;  so  that  his  reply  would  have  been  nothing 
to  the  purpose. 

It  is  to  be  further  remarked  respecting  this  passage,  that  it 
contains  no  precept  as  to  what  His  disciples  were  enjoined  to 
do  :  only  a  prophecy  of  what  would  take  place.  It  is,  however, 
important  to  determine  aright  what  it  was  that  the  prophecy 
realted,  to  —  what  period  is  denoted  by  "  those  days  ;  "  since  it 
was  a  period  during  which  mourning  is  spoken  of,  —  not  indeed 
as  a  thing  commanded,  but  as  natural  and  suitable  for  Christ's 
disciples. 

§  XI.  Now  some  have  understood  by  "  those  days  "  all  ages 
of  the  Christian  church  subsequent  to  the  depart-  what  were  the 
ure  of  Jesus  in  bodily  person  from  the  earth :  com-  ing^-^by  thrdhcl- 
prehendinor  therefore  in  those  days  of  mourninor,     pies  for  the"  bride- 

i-  <^  J  o7       goom's  being  taken 

the  present,  and  all  future  time  till  his  triumphant  ^'""^  ''^^™-" 
return  to  judge  the  world  at  the  last  day.  But  this  .is  surely  to 
overlook,  or  greatly  to  misunderstand,  his  own  words.  For  in 
some  of  his  later  discourses  to  the  disciples,  recorded  by  John, 
he  dwells  very  fully  and  strongly  on  the  sorrow  they  will  feel 
at  the  loss  of  their  Master,  which  sorrow  was  to  be  succeeded 
hj  joy  —  lasting  joy  —  at  his  return.  "Because  I  have  said, 
I  go  my  way  to  Him  that  sent  me  ...  .  sorrow  hath  filled  your 
heart.  Nevertheless  —  I  tell  you  the  truth — it  is  expedient  for 
you  that  I  go  away  ;  for  if  I  go  not  away  the  Comforter  will 
not  come  unto  you,  but  if  I  depart  I  will  send  him,"  etc. 
26 


302  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

"  Ye  will  weep  and  lament,  but  the  world  will  rejoice  ;  and  ye 
will  be  sorrowful,  but  your  sorrow  shall  be  turned  into  joy ; 
....  and  ye  now  therefore  have  sorrow  ;  but  I  will  see  you 
again,  and  your  heart  shall  rejoice,  and  your  joy  no  man  taketh 
from  you  "  (John  xvi.  6,  20). 

Now  the  disciples,  it  is  true,  had  to  spend  their  lives,  for 
the  most  part,  in  trials,  dangers,  indignities,  persecutions,  and 
various  kinds  of  hardship.  And  some  have  imagined  that  the 
period  of  "  mourning  "  Jesus  alludes  to  —  "  then  shall  they 
fast  in  those  days  " —  denotes  this  life  of  suffering  which  awaited 
them  after  his  departure  in  the  body.  But  I  greatly  wonder 
that  any  one  should  so  utterly  overlook  what  is  said  both  by 
himself  and  his  apostles.  It  would  indeed  be  very  natural  for 
an  ordinary  man  to  regard  as  a  period  of  mourning  that  life 
of  privation  and  hardship  to  which  the  first  preachers  of  the 
gospel  were  subjected  ;  but  far  different,  and  indeed  contrary, 
was  the  view  which  they  themselves  and  their  great  Master 
took  of  it.  The  "  mourning  "  he  alludes  to  was  not  on  account 
of  bodily  afflictions,  but  on  account  of  the  loss  of  him  their 
Lord ;  which  sorrow  was  to  be  completely  and  finally  removed  : 
their  "joy  no  man  was  to  take  from  them."  But  as  for  worldly 
troubles  and  hardships,  these  were  a  kind  of  trial  which  he  pre- 
pared them  not  to  mourn  for,  but  to  endure  joyfully.  "  Peace," 
says  he  (John  xiv.),  "  I  leave  with  you  ;  my  peace^I  give  unto 

you  :  not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you In  the  world 

ye  shall  have  tribulation ;  but  be  of  good  cheer,  I  have  over- 
come the  world."  And  again,  "Blessed  are  ye  when  men 
shall  hate  you,  and  shall  separate  you  from  their  company,  and 
reproach  you ; .  .  .  .  when  they  shall  persecute  you  for  right- 
eousness' sake :  .  .  .  .  rejoice  in  that  day,  and  leap  for  joy,"  etc. 

And  well  did  the  apostles  learn  and  practise,  and  inculcate  on 
their  converts,  the  lesson  He  had  taught  them.    "  My  brethren," 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  303 

says  the  Apostle  James,  "  count  it  all  joy  when  ye  fall  into 
divers  temptations  ; "  that  is,  trials  by  persecution.  "  They 
departed  rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to  suffer 
shame,"  ^  etc.  "  I  am  filled,"  says  Paul,^  "  with  comfort ;  I 
am  exceeding  joyful  in  all  our  tribulation,"  etc.  To  the  world 
they  might  appear  "  of  all  men  most  miserable ; "  but  they 
themselves  felt  quite  otherwise  :  they  were  "  as  sorrowful, 
yet  always  rejoicing." 

From  these  and  many  other  passages,  but  much  more  still 
from  the  general  tone  of  the  New  Testament  writers,  we  may 
plainly  see  that  the  days  of  "mourning"  which  our  Lord 
alludes  to  cannot  have  been  the  life  of  hardship  which  awaited 
the  preachers  of  the  gospel,  nor  could  have  had  any  reference 
to  such  outward  afflictions.  That  time  of  mourning  for  their 
Lord's  absence  was  evidently,  first,  the  interval  of  desponding 
sorrow  between  his  crucifixion  and  his  appearance  after  the 
resurrection;^  and  secondly,  in  a  less  degree,  that  interval  of 
comparative  loneliness,  though  cheered  by  hope,  —  that  twi- 
light following  the  darkness  of  despondency,  and  preceding 
the  restoration  of  a  full  sunshine,  —  the  interval  between  the 
ascension  and  the  day  of  Pentecost,  when  their  Master  was 
restored  to  them,  not  in  body,  but  in  Spirit,  as  the  "  Comforter 
who  should  abide  with  them  for  ever."  * 

If,  indeed,  it  had  been  a  new  Master  —  a  different  Being  — 
that  they  were  then  and  thenceforth  to  be  under,  though  sent 
by  their  former  Master,  their  joy  would  not  have  been  "  full :  " 
they  would  still  have  mourned  the  departure  of  him  in  whose 
service  they  had  originally  enlisted.  Any  one  who  has  a  heart 
for  friendship,  —  who  knows  what  real  personal  attachment  is, 
—  knows  well  that  its  object  is,  not  certain  qualities  merely, 

1  Acts  V.  41.  2  2  Cor.  vii.  4.  3  See  Luke  xxiv.  17. 

4  The  title  Paraclete,  rendered  in  the  Gospel  of  John  "  Comforter,"  is  applied 
to  Jesus  in  the  first  epistle,  in  which  our  version  renders  it  "  Advocate." 


304  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

but  a  certain  individual  person,  "  Substitute,"  "  successor,'* 
"  equal,"  "  similar,"  "  equally  good,"  are  words  unknown  in 
His  vocabulary.  The  cravings  of  an  affectionate  heart  can 
only  be  satisfied  with  the  very  person  on  whom  it  is  fixed. 
The  dejection  of  the  disciples,  therefore,  in  the  absence  of  their 
original  Master,  would  never  have  been  wholly  removed  by 
any  gifts  conferred  under  the  dominion  of  a  different  Being. 

But  this  —  though  the  language  of  some  writers  would  lead 
one  to  take  such  a  view  —  is  very  far  from  being  that  view 
which  Jesus  taught  his  disciples  to  take,  and  which  they  did 
take,  of  their  condition.  On  the  contrary,  he  seems  to  have 
sedulously  guarded  them  against  any  such  thought.  "  I  will 
not,"  says  he,  "  leave  you  comfortless  :  /  will  come  unto  you." 
.  ..."  I  will  see  you  again,  and  your  heart  shall  rejoice."  And 
that  this  cannot  refer  to  the  interval  between  the  resurrection 
and  the  ascension  is  plain  from  his  adding,  "  Your  joy  no  man 
taheth  from  your  And  again,  "  If  a  man  love  me,  he  will 
keep  my  words,  and  my  Father  will  love  him,  and  we  will 
come  unto  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him." 

And  in  like  manner  Paul,  in  speaking  of  the  graces  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  says,  "  K  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
he  is  none  of  his  :  "...  .  "  The  Lord  "  (Jesus)  is  the  (that) 
Spirit  (TO  livedfxa). 

It  is  plain  therefore  that  no  mourning  —  no  fast  in  that  sense 
—  was  designed  to  be  the  habitual  condition  —  the  general 
standing  rule  of  the  Christian  church. 


§  XII.     As  for  fasting  of  any  other  description,  whether  as 
Fasting  one  of    sltl  outward  sigu  of  mouming  on  extraordinary 

the  things  left  by  .  •  .        n  ,i 

the  apostles  to  the  occasious,  or  an  accompanmient  oi  prayer,  the 
t?af  cTurchoratd  ^acrcd  writcrs  have  left  the  whole  matter  to  the 
of  individuals.  discrction  of  Christians,  whether  as  private  in- 

dividuals or  as  churches.     In   the  course  of  their  narratives 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  305 

tliej  have  recorded^  incidentally,  the  existing  practices,  but 
have  nowhere  given  any  injunctions  or  directions  on  the  sub- 
ject. While  earnestly  inculcating  the  habitual  use  of  prayer, 
both  public  and  private,  they  have  left  each  church  in  respect 
of  public  congregational  prayers,  and  each  individual  Chris- 
tian in  respect  of  his  private  devotions,  to  regulate  the  partic- 
ular modes  of  fulfilling  that  duty  as  may  to  each  seem  best, 
so  that  "  all  things,"  says  the  apostle,  *•'  be  done  to  edifying." 

A  further  admonition,  however,  is  given  by  the  same  apostle 
(Rom.  xiv.  2)  not  to  judge  harshly,  or,  again,  to  speak  con- 
temptuously of  one  another  in  respect  of  these  matters. 
"  One  man  believeth  that  he  may  eat  all  things  ;  another,  who 
is  weaiv,  eateth  herbs.  Let  not  him  that  eateth  despise  him 
that  eateth  not,  and  let  not  him  that  eatheth  not  judge  him 
that  eateth.  Who  art  thou  that  judgest  another  man's  ser- 
vant? To  his  own  master  he  standeth  or  falleth."  And 
again,  he  tells  us  that  meat  doth  not  recommend  us  to  God, 
for  that  we  are  not  the  better  or  the  worse  for  eating  or  for  not 
eating,  but  that  "  whether  we  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  we 
do,  we  should  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God." 

It  is  probable  the  apostle  had  here  in  view,  principally  at 
least,  the  scrupulous  dread  of  some  weak  brethren  of  eating 
something  that  had  been  strangled,  or  that  had  been  offered  to 
idols.  The  principle,  however,  which  he  is  inculcating  is  of 
veiy  general  application  ;  namely,  that  with  respect  to  matters 
intrinsically  indifferent,  and  on  which  no  positive  command 
has  been  given,  each  is  to  act  according  to  the  best  of  his  own 
judgment,  and  not  presume  to  condemn  or  to  despise  others 
for  not  coinciding  with  him. 

In  respect  of  these  points,  then,  as  well  as  many  others,^  the 
inspired  writers  have  left,  as  I  have  said,  the  determination  to 
the  responsible  discretion  of  each  church,  or  of  each  individual 

1  See  Essay  II.,  on  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  §  13. 
26* 


306  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

Christian.  And  each  church  has  a  right  —  in  respect  of  such 
things  as  are  neither  distinctly  enjoined  by  Scripture  or  by 
natural  conscience,  nor,  again,  at  variance  with  either  of  these, 
—  to  enact,  or  abrogate,  or  alter  from  time  to  time  any  public 
ordinances,  according  as  to  each  may  appear  most  conducive 
to  edification. 

To  teach  however  as  a  duty,  or  as  a  Christian  virtue,  self- 
denial,  not  in  the  gospel  sense  of  the  word,  but  in  the  sense  of 
pain  or  privation  voluntarily  undergone,  as  a  thing  in  itself, 
and  as  such  acceptable  to  God,  —  this  would  be  to  exceed 
the  legitimate  powers  of  a  church ;  because  it  is,  as  we  have 
seen,  at  variance  with  the  whole  spirit  of  the  gospel  religion. 
This,  and  sundry  other  developments  (as  the  modern  phrase 
is)  of  the  gospel  scheme  —  that  is,  in  plain  terms,  human  ad- 
ditions to  a  divine  revelation  —  were  introduced  in  early  ages 
of  the  church,  and  have  always  found  admission,  more  or  less, 
in  a  great  part  of  the  Christian  world.  But  our  reformers, 
whatever  opinion  may  be  formed  as  to  what  their  decisions 
were,  or  ought  to  have  been,  as  to  some  points,^  must  at  least 
be  acknowledged  to  have  kept  perfectly  free  from  the  above- 
mentioned  error  :  that  of  representing  gratuitous,  self-imposed 
suffering  —  whether  from  hunger  and  thirst,  or  cold,  or  scourg- 
ings,  or  beds  of  flint,  or  of  whatever  kind  —  as  an  acceptable 
Christian  service.  Neither  as  an  atonement  for  sin,  nor  as,  in 
any  way,  a  Christian  duty,  do  they  recommend  or  countenance 
any  kind  of  voluntary  self-inflicted  pain,  simply  as  pain,  and 
as  on  that  ground  approved  by  our  heavenly  Master ;  or  as 
either  something  to  be  superadded  to,  or  substituted  for,  the 
duty  of  habitual  temperance  and  self-control. 

§  XIII.  The  danger,  however,  is  not  only  so  great,  but 
likewise  so  palpable,  of  giving  way  to  intemperance  or  to  lux- 

1  See  Note  B,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  307 

urious   self-indulgence,  that  many  are   apt   to   disbelieve   or 
overlook  all  danger  on  the  side  of  asceticism, 

Danger  of  asceti- 

and  to  consider  that  as  being,  at  the  worst,  no     cism  less  paipahie, 

,        ^.  but  not    less  real' 

more  than  a  harmless  error,  leading  to  no  evil  than  that  of  sens- 
beyond  the  unnecessary  bodily  suffering  under-  "*  ^^  ^  gences. 
gone,  —  as  something  superfluous,  but  nowise  mischievous. 
But  in  truth  nothing  is  harmless  that  is  mistalcen  for  a  virtue. 
"Whatever  is  practised  and  admired  as  a  Christian  duty,  when 
it  is  none,  is  likely  to  be  worse  than  useless :  and  to  dwell  ever 
so  copiously,  and  eloquently,  and  truly  on  one  class  of  faults, 
does  not  go  a  step  towards  disproving  the  reaUty,  or  the  mag- 
nitude, or  the  danger  of  a  different  class  of  faults. 

In  the  present  instance,  besides  the  danger  above  adverted 
to  of  combining  both  faults,  —  of  compensating,  by  austerities 
at  particular  seasons,  for  habitual  self-indulgence  at  other 
times,  —  there  are  also  other  evils  connected  with  asceticism. 
Experience  will  show  to  any  one  who  carefully  and  candidly 
surveys  mankind,  that  it  has  a  strong  tendency  to  generate 
spiritual  pride,  uncharitable  harshness  towards  opponents,  and 
a  general  laxity  of  conscience  in  points  not  immediately  con- 
nected with  ascetic  observances.  Let  any  one  look  to  the 
latter  part  of  the  third  century,  and  the  period  immediately 
succeeding,  and  to  every  age  and  portion  of  the  church  in  which 
ascetic  mortification  has  most  flourished,  and  he  will  find  the 
general  rule  to  be  (subject,  of  course,  like  other  general  rules, 
to  exceptions),  that  those  most  remarkable  for  excessive  aus- 
terities have  been  remarkable  also  for  overbearing  pride-— 
veiled  from  themselves  and  from  others  by  a  seeming  humil- 
ity, —  a  pride  fostered  by  the  almost  idolatrous  veneration  — 
far  beyond  what  real  Christian  virtues  generally  obtain  —  that 
is  bestowed  by  those  around  them.  They  will  be  found  also, 
generally  speaking,  to  have  been  distinguished  by  a  morose 
and  irritable  temper  ;  impatient  of  opposition,  bitter  and  ran- 


308  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

corous  in  controversy,  merciless  persecutors,  and  often  most 
unscrupulous  in  the  use  of  pious  frauds  and  disingenuous  arti- 
fice^ in  compassing  their  ends. 

The  truth  seems  to  be,  that  while  the  practice  of  any  truly 
Christian  virtue  tends  to  cherish  every  other  Christian  virtue, 
purifying  and  elevating  the  moral  taste,  and  Christianizing  the 
whole  character,  the  practice,  on  the  contrary,  of  any  spurious 
imitation  of  virtue  is  more  likely  to  be  substituted  for  general 
Christian  morality  than  to  prove  a  help  towards  it,  and  thus 
gradually  to  debase  instead  of  exalting  the  character.  Each 
point  wherein  we  are  truly  copying  the  examples  of  Jesus 
and  his  apostles  is  an  advance  towards  a  resemblance  to  them, 
in  principle  and  conduct,  throughout  ;  because  the  genuine 
"  fruits  of  the  Spirit "  all  come  from  the  same  root ;  and  we 
are  thus  in  the  way  to  "  add  to  our  faith  virtue,  and  to  virtue 
knowledge,  and  to  knowledge  temperance,  patience,  godUness, 
brotherly  kindness,  charity."  ^ 

Every  superstition,  on  the  contrary,  —  everything  that  is, 
either  in  practice  or  in  principle,  at  variance  with  the  character 
of  those  our  great  patterns,  —  tends,  as  far  as  it  goes,  to  lead 
us  away  from  them,  and  to  divert  religious  sentiments  into  a 
wrong  channel. 

§  XIV.     Into  superstition,  of  whatever  kind,  and,  among 

others,  that  branch  of  it  which  consists  in  as- 

morti/catio'n  is  in-     cctic  sclf-torturc,  uo  ouc  of  caudid  mind  is  likely 

Sorme'Is/''  ""'     *«  ^c  led  by  our  reformers; 3  who  give,  as  I 

have  before  observed,  no   countenance  to   the 

notion  of  substituting  for  gospel  morality,  or  superadding  to  it, 

1  See  Dr.  West's  Discourse  on  Keserve. 

2  2  Pet.  i.  5. 

3  Accordingly  we  find  —  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact — that  the  advocates  of 
asceticism  among  the  (nominal)  members  of  our  church  are  accustomed,  either 
openly  or  by  oblique  insinuations,  to  disparage  these  men,  — to  deny  the  great 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  309 

periodical  austerities,  and  endurance  of  gratuitous  sufferings. 
In  the  Collect,  for  example,  for  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent,  the 
virtue  which  they  instruct  us  to  pray  that  we  may  be  enabled 
to  practise,  is,  "  to  use  such  abstinence,  that,  our  flesh  being 
subdued  to  the  Spirit,  we  may  ever  obey  God's  motions  in 
righteousness  and  true  holiness ;  *'  which  must  evidently  be  a 
duty,  not  for  a  certain  portion  of  each  year  or  week,  but  for 
every  time  alike.  The  fasting  and  self-denial  which  they  di- 
rect us  to  practise^  —  in  the  sense  of  resistance  to  all  temptations 
and  patient  endurance  of  every  cross  that  may  be  laid  on  us, 
and  constant  self-control  and  subjugation  of  the  appetites,  and 
abstinence  from  every  kind  of  luxurious  excess  —  is  evidently 
not  a  duty  to  be  reserved  for  particular  days  and  seasons,  but 
to  be  habitually  practised,  and  wrought  into  the  whole  charac- 
ter. For  he  who  is  a  Christian  at  all,  must  be  one  constantly  ; 
because  he  is,  as  such,  a  "  living  stone  "  of  the  temple  of  God's 
Spirit.  "  Know  ye  not,"  says  the  apostle,  "  that  your  bodies 
are  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost  which  dwelleth  in  you? 
Now  if  any  one,"  he  adds,  "  defile  the  temple  of  God,  him 
will  God  destroy." 

Let  the  Christian  live,  therefore,  —  not  on  this  day  or  on 
that,  but  every  day,  —  as  becomes  those  who  believe  that  they 
are  a  portion  of  the  sanctuary,  and  who  are  preparing  for  the 
coming  of  Him  "  who  shall  change  our  vile  body,  that  it  may 
become  like  unto  His  glorious  body,  according  to  the  mighty 
working  whereby  He  is  able  to  subdue  all  things  unto  Himself," 
and  who,  "  having  this  hope  in  them,"  strive  to  "  purify  them- 
selves, even  as  he  is  pure." 

reform  they  effected,  and  to  resort  to  the  examples  and  precepts  of  what  they 
call  "  the  Primitive  Church ;"  that  is,  those  ages  most  fruitful  in  developmekts, 
—  in  corruptions  of  the  gospel  religion,  and  unauthorized  additions  to  it,  devised 
by  presumptuous  men. 
1  See  Kote  C,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


310  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 


NOTES  TO  ESSAY  X. 


Note  A  —  Pages  283,  286,  296. 

The  following  extract  from  the  biographical  panegyric  of  an 
ascetic  nun  (lately  published)  will  show,  as  well  as  a  multiude  of 
other  such  records  which  might  be  cited,  how  nearly  the  Christian 
religion  has  been  brought  to  a  resemblance  to  that  of  the  Hindus 
in  the  point  of  self-torture,  and,  one  may  add,  almost  of  self-immola- 
tion. For  though  it  is  pretended  that  ascetics  are  advised  to  limit 
their  inflictions  at  a  point  that  will  not  endanger  health,  the  praises 
bestowed  on  those  who  have  not  only  endangered  but  manifestly 
shortened  their  lives  —  praises  bestowed  expressly  on  that  very 
account  —  plainly  show  that  no  such  limitation  is  really  prescribed  : 

"  Each  year  she  made  a  spiritual  retreat  of  eight  days,  great  part 
of  which  she  spent  in  the  church  on  bended  knees ;  and  the  night 
of  Holy  Thursday  was  ever,  with  her,  one  of  sacred  and  uninter- 
mitting  watching  before  the  adorable  sacrament  of  the  altar ;  yet 
it  was  only  in  performing,  after  her  death,  the  last  rites  of  friend- 
ship to  her  remains,  that  her  tones  were  discovered  to  he  excoriated 
and  ulcerated^  and  to  have  been  so  for  years ;  yet  the  acute  pain 
which  kneeling  must  have  caused  her,  she  bore  with  silent  and 
enduring  fortitude.  She  never  whispered  to  her  nearest  and  dearest 
associates  a  hint  of  her  secret  and  long-continued  suffering ;  it  was 
known  but  to  her  and  to  God.  The  soles  of  her  feet  were  at  the 
same  time  found  covered  with  tumors  such  as  would  have  prevented 
any  other  person  from  walking,  yet  for  the  last  three  years  of  her 
life  she  walked  over  great  part  of  the  city,  begging  from  door  to  door 
for  the  support  of  those  charitable  institutions  which  would  otherwise 
have  fallen  to  the  ground. 

"  To  such  works  was  the  life  of  Miss  N devoted.   In  the  year 

1789  she  reached  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  her  age.  In  the  spring  of 
that  year,  the  symptoms  of  a  premature  old  age  began  to  develop 
themselves  in  her  exhausted  frame,"  etc.  —  See  Dr.  Gilly's  "  Vigilan- 
tius  and  his  Times,"  Chap.  VI. 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  311 

Note  B— Page  306. 

EXTRACT  FROM  AN  ACT  OF  PARLIAMENT,  IN  THE  REIGN  OF  EDWARD  VI. 
A.  D.  1549. 

"  That  althougli  days  and  meats  are  In  themselves  alike,  yet  fasting 
being  a  great  help  to  virtue,  and  to  the  subduing  the  body  to  the 
mind,  and  a  distinction  of  meats  conducing  to  the  advancement  of  the 
/ishinrf-trade,  be  it  enacted  that  Lent,  and  all  Fridays  and  Saturdays 
and  ember  days,  should  be  fish-days."  Penalties  are  annexed  to  the 
breaking  of  the  law,  except  in  the  case  of  weak  persons  and  those 
wao  had  the  king's  license. 


Note  C  —  Page  309. 

What  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  decision  of  our  own  church  on  this 
matter  is  a  question  on  which  considerable  doubt,  perplexity,  and 
difference  of  opinion  have  arisen.  To  enter  on  a  full  discussion  of 
it  Avould  be  foreign  from  the  main  design  of  this  volume,  which  is  to 
elucidate  the  meaning,  not  of  any  uninspired  formularies,  but  of  some 
portions  of  Scripture, 

It  may  be  worth  while,  however,  to  remark  that  fasting  cannot  be 
reckoned  an  "  ordinance"  properly  so  called,  of  our  church.  There 
are  indeed  allusions  to  it  in  some  of  our  services,  and  also  certain 
"  days  of  fasting  and  abstinence,"  and  likewise  "  feast-days "  are 
noted  in  the  calendar;  but  no  injunctions  are  anywhere  given  to 
observe  these  days,  nor  any  directions  as  to  the  mode  of  observance 
either  of  a  fast  or  a  feast.  Now  it  would  be  an  incorrect  use  of  lan- 
guage, almost  amounting  to  a  contradiction,  to  speak  of  an  ordinance 
which  ordains  nothing  definite,  —  an  injunction  as  to  a  positive  duty, 
in  which  no  one  can  say  what  it  is  that  is  enjoined. 

When  the  church  directs  what  persons  shall  be  baptized,  shall  be 
confirmed,  shall  receive  the  holy  communion,  no  one  can  doubt  what 
it  is  that  he  is  required  to  do  ;  the  appointed  services  being  set  forth, 
along  with  rubrical  directions,  in  the  Prayer-book.  And  if  there  had 
been  an  express  command  given  that  all  members  of  the  church 
should  fast  on  certain  days,  we  should  have  expected  —  as  is  mani- 
festly necessary  in  the  case  of  any  positive  ordinance — that  the  details 
should  be  no  less  distinctly  specified.  For  "  if  the  trumpet  give  an 
uncertain  sound,  who  shall  prepare  himself  for  the  battle  ?  " 


312  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

And  accordingly  in  those  churclies  which  do  retain  fasting  among 
their  public  ordinances,  all  the  particulars  respecting  the  food  to  be 
used  and  abstained  from,  and  respecting  the  dispensations  that  are 
to  be  allowed,  are  distinctly  laid  down,  partly  by  each  church  itself, 
and  partly,  within  certain  specified  limits,  by  each  bishop,  from  year 
to  year,  within  his  own  diocese. 

In  our  church,  on  the  contrary,  not  only  are  no  such  directions 
given,  but  those  very  services  just  above  alluded  to  seem  to  indicate 
that  no  public  positive  ordinance  was  designed  ;  but  only —  as  in  the 
case  of  almsgiving  —  an  exhortation  to  the  practice  of  a  moral  duty. 
For  though  the  portion  of  service  appointed  in  place  of  the  epistle 
for  Ash- Wednesday  has  a  reference  to  ^,  public  fast  among  the  Jews, 
the  gospel,  on  the  other  hand,  that  is  selected,  contains  our  Lord's 
animadversion  on  the  ostentatious  practice  of  the  Pharisees  in  their 
private  fasts,  which  he  warns  his  disciples  against,  —  "  that  thou  ap- 
pear not  unto  men  to  fast : "  an  admonition  which  would  be  wholly 
inapplicable  to  any  public  ordinance.  And  again,  when  we  look 
at  the  Collect  for  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent,  we  find  it,  as  I  have 
above  remarked,  referring  altogether  to  the  duty  of  habitual  temper- 
ance,—  "  such  abstinence,  that,  the  flesh  being  subdued  to  the  spirit, 
we  may  ever  obey  God's  motions  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness," 
—  being  evidently  a  moral  duty,  and  one  not  pertaining  to  any  par- 
ticular season,  but  to  all  times. 

And  the  very  same  duty,  and  no  other,  is  inculcated  throughout 
the  homiliy  on  fasting.  It  refers  indeed  to  passages  of  Scripture  in 
which  mention  is  made  of  fasting,  more  properly  so  called ;  but  the 
practical  doctrine  on  which  it  dwells  throughout  is  the  duty  of 
"keeping  under  the  body,  and  bringing  it  into  subjection,"  by  habit- 
ually refraining  from  any  such  indulgence  of  the  appetites  as  may 
tend  to  cloud  the  intellect,  to  inflame  the  passions,  or  in  any  way  to 
enslave  the  the  higher  parts  of  our  nature  to  the  baser. 

But  neither  there  nor  anywhere  else  is  anything  prescribed  as  to 
the  quantity  or  quality  of  food  to  be  taken,  or  as  to  any  such  partic- 
ulars. Each  individual  is  left  by  our  church  to  frame,  and  observe 
for  himself,  according  to  his  own  responsible  discretion,  whatever 
rules  as  to  these  points  he  may  judge  most  suitable  to  the  end  pro- 
posed, —  that  of  making  the  body  not  the  master  but  the  servant, 
and,  as  far  as  lies  in  him,  the  efficient  servant  of  the  spiritual  portion 
of  our  nature. 

Those  who,  with  this  view,  might  find  it  most  advisable  to  set  aside 


02T  SELF-DEXIAL.  313 

certain  days  —  not  indeed  as  the  only  times  on  wliich  they  should 
control  their  appetites,  while  they  should,  on  others,  give  a  loose  to 
sensuality,  but  — on  which  they  should  use  a  more  sparing  diet  than 
ordinary,  and  who  might  wish  to  select  those  particular  days  which 
they  and  their  forefathers  had  been  accustomed  so  to  employ,  — 
these,  I  conceive,  were  the  persons  for  whose  use  the  fast-days  in  the 
calendar  were  marked. 

But  as  there  is  no  injunction  for  the  observance  of  these  days,  so 
neither  are  there  any  directions  as  to  the  mode  in  which  those  who 
do  observe  them  are  to  regulate  that  observance. 

If  indeed  the  noting  in  the  calendar  of  certain  fast-days  had  been 
a  novelty  introduced  by  the  reformers,  no  such  practice  having  ex- 
isted before,  then,  indeed,  it  might  have  been  inferred  that  they 
designed  to  establish  a  positive  ordinance  on  the  subject,  and  had  left 
their  work  unfinished,  having  intended  to  proceed  to  lay  down  such 
precise  directions  as  must  evidently  be  indispensably  necessary  for 
its  observance.  But  as  we  know  that  the  reverse  of  this  was  the 
fact,  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that  their  design  in  retaining 
the  fast-days  in  the  calendar  was  what  has  been  above  suggested ; 
and  that  they  purposely  abstained  from  laying  down  rules  as  for  a 
public  positive  ordinance,  meaning  to  leave  the  whole  matter  to  the 
private  discretion  of  each  individual  Christian. 

Our  reformers  probably  judged  it  unsafe  to  make  enactments  on 
such  a  subject,  on  account  of  the  great  difference  in  men's  bodily 
constitutions.  That  which  would  be  a  dangerously  insufficient  nour- 
ishment for  one  person,  may  be  repletion  or  dangerous  excess  to 
another.  The  same  length  of  abstinence,  or  the  same  kind  of  diet, 
which  clears  and  invigorates  the  mind  of  one,  may  produce  in  another 
faintness,  unfitness  for  all  action  of  mind  or  body,  or  inaptitude  for 
devout  meditation.  And  the  system  of  dispensations  which  such 
diversities  render  necessary,  makes  an  opening,  as  they  doubtless 
well  knew,  for  endless  abuses  and  scandals. 

They  judged  it  best,  therefore,  to  lay  down  in  this  matter  merely 
the  principles  on  which  we  ought  to  act,  —  the  end  to  be  aimed  at,  — 
and  to  leave  to  the  discretion  and  conscience  of  each  individual  the 
application  of  those  principles,  and  the  means  towards  that  end. 

27 


ESSAY    XI 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM. 

§  I.     It  is  not  my  design  to  enter  on  a  full  discussion  of  all 
the  questions  that   have  so  long  agitated  the 

Controversies 

arising  out  of  ver-     chuFch    ou   the    subject  of   regeneration,   and 

bal  difficulties.  t         •  i        i  -r»  i  • 

those  connected  with  that.  liut  there  is  one 
circumstance  pertaining  to  them  which  I  am  most  anxious 
to  point  out,  and  to  insist  on  ;  which  is,  that  among  manj 
persons  (I  do  not  say  all)  who  are,  in  language,  very  much 
opposed  to  each  other  on  this  subject,  the  opposition  is  much 
greater  in  appearance  than  in  reality.  They  are  engaged, 
without  being  aware  of  it,  in  a  controversy  chiefly,  if  not 
altogether,  verbal} 

Now  it  must  be  regarded  by  all  who  have  anything  of  a 
genuine  Christian  spirit,  as  a  most  desirable  object  to  obviate 
as  far  as  possible  all  unnecessary  dissension  among  Christians, 
and  to  bring  to  a  mutual  good  understanding,  as  nearly  as  can 
be  done  without  compromise  of  truth,  all  "  who  love  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity." 

For,  besides  the  immediate  evils  to  those  who  are  themselves 
engaged  in  any  controversy,  there  is  this  additional  danger  also 

1  This  remark,  and  a  large  portion  of  what  follows,  is  the  substance  of  observ- 
ations made  in  several  conversations  on  the  subject  by  the  late  Bishop  Cople- 
ston,  to  whose  memory,  accordingly,  I  dedicated  the  Charge  from  which  this 
Essay  was  drawn  up. 


ox  IXFANT-BAPTISM.  315 

to  the  Christian  people  generally,  that  many  of  them  may  be 
disposed  to  say,  "  Here  are  questions  which  are  declared  by  all 
to  be  of  vital  importance,  yet  on  which  the  most  learned  divines 
are  not  agreed.  If  men  apparently  pious,  and  of  far  greater 
knowledge  and  ability  than  ours,  find  so  much  difficulty  in 
agreeing  to  the  sense  of  Scripture  on  points  which  they  regard 
as  of  vital  importance,  what  is  to  them  a  difficulty  must  be  to 
us  an  impossibiUty ;  and  Scripture  can  therefore  contain  no 
revelation,  properly  so  called,  or  at  least  no  revelation  to  the 
mass  of  mankind."  And  the  result  of  these  reflections  will 
often  be,  that  some  will  betake  themselves  to  some  supposed 
infallible  church,  or  other  guide,  to  whose  dictates  they  will 
implicitly  resign  themselves  ;  while  others  will  be,  by  the  same 
course,  led  into  infidehty.^  They  see  that  there  is  no  infallible 
and  universally  accessible  guide  on  earth,  and,  moreover,  that 
if  there  were  it  could  not  possibly  be  ascertained  by  men 
incompetent  (by  supposition)  to  exercise  their  private  judg- 
ment, and  who  consequently  could  never  have  any  good  reason 
for  trusting  their  judgment  to  decide  rightly  that  most  difficult 
question,  —  Who  is  the  appointed  guide  ?  —  and  they  conse- 
quently reject  the  belief  of  any  divine  revelation  at  all. 

It  is  doubly  important,  therefore,  to  point  out,  where  this  can 
be  done  with  truth,  how  far  difficulties  and  disputes  may  have 
been  created,  or  aggravated,  by  theologians  themselves,  either 
from  their  seeking  to  explain  more  than  God  has  thought  fit  to 
reveal,^  or  from  interpreting  Scripture  according  to  the  techni- 
cal phraseology  of  some  theological  school,  or  from  overlooking 
variations  in  the  senses  in  which  several  words  are  employed, 
and  thus  introducing  undetected  verbal  controversy  and  conse- 
quent confusion  of  thought. 

1  See  Sermon  on  the  Search  after  Infallibility,  and  Lessons  on  Religious  Wor- 
ship, L.  VI. 

2  See  Sermon  on  the  Shepherds  at  Bethlehem,  and  also  Lessons  on  Religious 
Worship,  L.  VII. 


316  AYHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

The  terms  "  regenerate  "  and  "  regeneration,"  or  new  birth, 
are  commonly  employed  (as  T  have  remarked  in  a  work  which 
has  been  now  for  many  years  well  known  to  the  public)  in 
different  senses  by  different  persons.-^  "  Regeneration  "  denotes, 
in  the  language  of  some,  merely  that  admission  to  Christian 
privileges  and  advantages  which  is  the  necesssLrj prelimtnari/  to 
a  Christian  life.  Others  employ  the  term  to  signify  the  con- 
dition into  which  a  man  is  brought  by  that  use  of  those  advan- 
tages and  privileges  which  constitutes  a  decided  Cliristian 
character.  And  "  regenerate,"  accordingly,  is  applied  by  those 
persons  respectively  to  conditions  as  widely  different  as  that 
of  a  new-bom  infant  and  that  of  a  fully-formed  adult. 

Without  attempting  to  enter  on  a  minute  discussion  of  all 
the  modifications  of  meaning  that  have  ever  been  attached  to 
these  words,  we  may  at  least  recognize,  the  employment  of 
them  in  the  two  widely-different  senses  just  mentioned.  And 
not  only  by  different  persons,  but  sometimes  even  by  the  same, 
these  words  (as  well  as  several  others)  will  be  found  to  be 
occasionally  used  with  different  significations.  Undesignedly, 
and  unconsciously,  a  person  will  sometimes,  even  at  a  short 
interval,  slide  from  one  meaning  to  another  of  some  of  the 
expressions  he  is  employing. 

Now  whatever  may  be  the  importance  of  adhering  to  the 
most  correct  use  of  any  terra,  and  whichever  may  be,  in  this 
case,  the  more  correct,  it  is  surely  the  first  point  —  the  first  in 
order,  and  the  first  also  in  importance  —  to  perceive  distinctly 
the  ambiguity  that  does  actually  exist,  and  to  keep  clear  of  the 
many  injurious  misapprehensions  which  may  arise  from  attrib- 
uting to  those  who  use  a  term  in  one  sense,  conclusions  which 
depend  on  its  being  taken  in  a  different  sense. 

For  example,  a  person  may  be  exposed  to  a  groundless 
imputation  of  leading  men  into  a  vain  and  dangerous  reliance 

1  Logic,  Appendix :  Article  "  Kegeneration." 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  317 

on  baptismal  privileges,  and  of  teaching  them  that  all  who  have 
been  duly  baptized  are  in  a  safe  state  ;  when  perhaps  in  fact 
he  may  have  never  said  or  implied  any  such  thing,  but  may 
have  merely  been  employing  the  word  "  regenerate  "  according 
to  what  he  regards  as  the  most  scriptural  usage  ;  and  then  has 
had  imputed  to  him  inferences  which  would  have  followed  if  he 
had  employed  that  word  in  quite  another  sense.  And  perhaps 
it  may  turn  out,  on  calm  investigation,  that  such  a  person,  and 
some  who  had  been  at  first  very  strongly  disposed  to  censure 
him,  do  not  in  reality  disagree  to  any  considerable  extent  as  to 
the  substance  of  the  doctrines  they  maintain. 

I  have  seen  something  like  the  above  imputation  thrown  out 
in  a  w^ork  which  several  years  ago  obtained  considerable  popu- 
larity. It  w^as  professedly  a  description  (veiled  under  a  slight 
tale)  of  various  prevailing  religious  opinions  and  modes  of  con- 
duct ;  and  some  of  the  pictures  drawn  were  both  striking  and 
just.  But  among  others,  a  careless  clergyman  is  introduced 
deprecating  any  anxiety  felt  by  any  of  his  people  as  to  their 
spiritual  state,  and  saying  that  "  of  course  all  Christians  will  be 
saved ;  and  whoever  is  baptized  is  a  Christian."  Now  I  feel 
certain,  from  long  experience  and  attentive  observation,  that 
there  is  no  ground  whatever  for  the  imputation  here  conveyed. 
I  mean  that  it  is  not  true,  as  is  evidently  designed  to  be 
implied,  that  there  exists  any  party,  school,  or  class  of  men 
among  our  clergy  —  even  the  worst  of  thera  —  who  teach  such 
a  doctrine.  Yet  it  is  probable  that  the  representation  was  not 
a  designed  calumny,  but  was  merely  an  "  idle  word,"  originat- 
ing in  a  misconception  such  as  I  have  been  alluding  to,  as  the 
result  of  a  hasty  and  inconsiderate  interpretation  of  another's 
expressions,  and  of  rash  inferences  therefrom. 

§  II.     Let  any  one,  then,  but  consider  —  and  this  is  an  in- 
quiry well-becoming  those  who  would  cherish  a  spirit  of  Chris- 
27* 


318  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

tiaa  charity  —  how  much  there  may  be  of  agreement,  and  that 
Importance  of     on  the  most  csscntial  practical  points,  between 
orpl^uc^aiaSr.     men    who   at   the    first   glance    might   appear 
'"*^'^*-  widely  opposed,  and  who  perhaps  are  inclined 

to  think  hardly  of  each  other. 

Two  persons  accustomed  to  employ,  respectively,  the  word 
"regeneration"  in  the  different  senses  just  alluded  to,  may 
agree  in  reverencing  the  rite  of  baptism,  and  in  administering 
it  according  to  the  same  rules.  Both  may  be  also  accustomed 
to  warn  men  against  placing  an  indolent  confidence  in  gospel 
privileges,  and  to  teach  them  that  to  have  been  enrolled  as 
members  of  Christ's  church  is  an  advantage  for  the  use  of  which 
we  are  responsible,  and  which  will  but  increase  the  condemnation 
of  such  as  do  not  "  walk  worthy  of  their  vocation."  Both  may 
teach  that  (in  the  words  of  our  sixteenth  Article),  "after  we  have 
received  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  may  depart  from  grace  given,  and 
fall  into  sin ;  and  by  the  grace  of  God  we  may  arise  again,  and 
amend  our  lives."  ^  And  they  may  agree  in  teaching  that 
"  God  desireth  not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  but  rather  that  he 
should  turn  from  his  wickedness  and  live ; "  and  in  exhorting 
every  one  who  does  live  a  careless  and  irreligious,  or  a  vicious 


1  Some  divines  of  the  present  day  (professedly  of  our  church)  express  doubts, 
nearly,  if  not  completely,  amounting  to  a  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  this  Article : 
teaching  that  sins  committed  after  baptism  are  either  totally  unpardonable,  or 
are  to  be  atoned  for  by  penance  (See  Rogers'  Essays,  Vol.  II.  Essay  II.,  pp. 
85,  86).  Should  such  views  prevail,  they  may  be  expected  to  lead  first  to  a  re- 
jection of  infant-baptism,  and  afterwards  to  the  practice  (not  unfrequent  in  the 
early  church)  of  deferring  baptism  to  the  deathbed. 

It  would  be  thought  by  many  a  cruelty  to  place  a  person,  without  his  own  con- 
sent, and  in  unconscious  infancy,  in  a  situation  so  far  much  more  disadvanta- 
geous than  that  of  those  brought  up  Pagans,  that  if  he  did  ever— suppose  at 
the  age  of  fifteen  or  twenty —  fall  into  any  sin,  he  must  remain  for  the  rest  of 
his  life— perhaps  for  above  half  a  century  —  deprived  of  all  hope,  or  at  least  of 
all  confident  hope,  of  restoration  to  the  divine  favor,  —  shut  out  from  all  that 
cheering  prospect  which,  if  his  baptism  in  infancy  had  been  omitted,  might  have 
lain  before  him. 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  319 

life,  to  repent,  and  seek  divine  mercy  through  Christ,  and 
strength  to  accomplish  a  thorough  reformation  ;  though  in  many- 
instances  to  the  same  sort  of  change  which  the  one  of  these 
instructors  would  call "  regeneration  "  or  "  new  birth,"  the  other 
might  apply  the  terms  "  conversion,"  "  revival,"  "  renewal,"  etc. 
Both  might  agree  in  teaching  that  a  holy  life  is  the  test  of 
effectual,  profitable  regeneration,  and  in  exhorting  all  men  to 
lead  such  a  life.  On  this,  the  important,  practical  point,  they 
would  not  differ  at  all. 

Now  if  this  be  so,  it  cannot  but  be  desirable  that  men  should 
be  at  least  guarded  against  supposing  themselves,  through  the 
influence  of  the  language  they  employ,  to  be  more  at  variance 
than  they  really  are.  And  it  is  accordingly  a  point  of  Chris- 
tian duty,  when  any  such  occasion  arises,  to  point  out  the  dan- 
ger of  such  an  error,  and  thus  to  promote  reconcilement,  or 
at  least  mitigate  hostility,  between  those  engaged  in  any  con- 
troversy. 

Let  no  one,  however,  calculate  on  finding  that  the  fulfilment 
of  this  duty  will  obtain  for  him  —  for  the  present  at  least  — 
the  favor  or  good  opinion  of  the  disputants.  On  the  contrary, 
the  most  vehement  of  these  will  usually  bestow  their  chief 
applause  on  the  most  eloquent  champion  on  their  own  side, 
and  will  even  be  disposed  to  charge  those  who  seek  to  mediate 
between  the  contending  parties  with  lukewarmness,  or  coward- 
ice, or  dissimulation,  —  with  ignorance  of  important  truths,  or 
with  a  readiness  to  make  a  base  compromise  for  the  sake  of 
human  favor. 

And  it  may  be  added  that  not  only  the  disputants  themselves, 
but  many  of  the  bystanders  also,  even  those  of  them  who  take 
but  little  interest  in  the  subject  under  discussion,  for  its  own 
sake,  will  be  disposed  to  heap  abuse  or  derision  on  any  one 
who  appears  to  come  forward  as  a  mediator.  For  the  vulgar- 
minded,  of  all  countries  and  ages,  and  of  all  ranks,  find  an 


320  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

amusing  excitement  in  the  spectacle  of  a  controversy  analogous 
to  that  which  attracted  the  ancient  Romans  to  their  gladiatorial 
shows.  And  hence  they  are  disposed  to  feel  or  to  affect  con- 
tempt for  any  who  seek  to  mitigate  hostility,  or  to  cut  short  a 
contest. 

Many,  also,  when  they  hear  of  any  discussion  relating  to  the 
employment  of  terms,  are  disposed  to  turn  aside  with  disdain  from 
one  who  dwells  on  what  they  will  regard  as  a  trifling  question. 
For  there  are  many  who  have  unthinkingly  taken  for  granted 
as  self-evident  a  theory  of  idea,  which  they  suppose  them- 
selves to  understand;  though  it  is,  in  truth,  I  am  convinced, 
quite  unintelligible,  and  tends  to  throw  an  indistinctness  and 
confusion  over  most  subjects.  And  hence  they  are  almost  un- 
aware of  one  important  function  of  language  as  an  instrument 
of  thought,  imagining  its  sole  use  to  be  the  conveying  of  our 
thoughts  to  others.-^ 

From  various  causes,  therefore,  whatever  censure  or  contempt 
the  advocates  of  either  party  in  a  dispute  may  be  exposed  to 
from  the  opposite  party,  the  peacemaker  is  likely  to  incur  from 
all.2 

It  is  true  the  most  calm  and  considerate  v^ill  at  once,  and 
many  others  after  a  time,  be  disposed  to  do  justice  to  the  mo- 
tives of  one  who  seeks  to  mediate,  and  to  listen  to  his  reasons. 
But  no  one  is  less  likely  to  gain  present  popularity  than  one 
who  aims  at  convincing  the  parties  engaged  in  a  contest  that  they 
are  in  reality  less  opposed  than  they  appear  to  be.  Those,  how- 
ever, who  are  seeking  the  approbation,  not  of  men  but  of  their 
Divine  Master,  will  remember  the  blessing  he  has  pronounced 
on  "  the  peacemakers."  And  though  they  would  not  sacrifice 
gospel  truth  for  the  sake  of  church  concord,  they  will  be  ready 
to  sacrifice  for  it  anything  and  everything  else. 

1  See  Elements  of  Logic :  Introduction. 

2  See  Note  A,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  321 

§  III.  But  though  some  are  liable  to  be  engaged,  in  refer- 
ence to  these  points,  in  a  controversy  chiefly  verbal,  there  are 
others,  as  I  have  above  hinted,  between  whom 

Real    difference 

an  apparently  similar  controversy  will  be  found     between  those  who 

.   .  „    ,  .  do    and     do     not 

to  turn  on  a  real  opposition  ot  doctrine.  hold  the  predesti- 

Those  who  hold  that  (1)  of  persons  duly  ad- 
mitted into  the  visible  church  by  baptism  some  are,  by  an  abso- 
lute eternal  divine  decree,  secured  in  all  the  benefits  of  Christ's 
redemption,  and  others  totally  excluded  therefrom  by  the  same 
decree,^  and  moreover  (2)  this  is  a  truth  set  forth  in  Scripture 
as  an  essential  point  of  faith,^  —  these,  and  the  parties  opposed 
to  them,  must,  of  course,  differ,  not  in  words  only,  but  in  the 
matter  of  their  teaching. 

Taking  regeneration  to  imply,  as  is  generally  agreed,  some 
kind  and  degree  of  benefit,  —  some  spiritual  gift,  or  at  least 
offer  of  a  gift,  —  they  of  course  deny  the  term  "  regenerate  " 
to  be  at  all  applicable  to  those  Christians  whom  they  consider 
as  excluded  by  the  decree  of  Omnipotence  from  all  spiritual 
benefit  whatever  of  baptism.  And  the  visible  church,  into 
which  members  are  through  this  rite  admitted,  they  must  re- 
gard as  a  community  not  possessing  any  spiritual  endowments 
whatever ;  these  being,  by  divine  decree,  reserved  for  certain 
individuals  arbitrarily  selected  from  the  rest. 

Of  those  who  maintain  —  or  at  least  in  their  teaching  imply 
—  the  predestinarian  views  now  alluded  to,  a  considerable  por- 
tion belong  to  the  sect  which  altogether  rejects  infant-baptism.^ 
And  in  this  I  cannot  but  admit  that  they  are  perfectly  consistent.* 
Regarding  the  rite  of  baptism  as  "  an  outward  and  visible  sign 
of  an  inward  spiritual  grace,"  they  deem  it  not  allowable,  I 

1  See  Note  A,  at  the  end  of  Essay  III. ;  and  Note  A,  at  the  end  of  Essay  IV. 

2  These  two  perfectly  distinct  assertions  are  often  confounded  together. 

3  See  Note  B,  at  the  end. 

4  See  Archbishop  Sumner's  Apostolical  Preaching,  from  which  I  have  sub- 
joined an  extract  in  a  Note  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


322  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

apprehend,  to  "  put  asunder  what  God  has  joined  together," 
and  therefore  confine  the  administration  of  this  sign  to  those 
respecting  whom  there  is  some  presumption  at  least  of  their 
being  admitted  to  a  participation  in  the  thing  signified, — 
the  divine  grace  ;  which  grace,  they  hold,  is,  by  an  eternal 
absolute  decree,  bestowed  on  one  portion  of  those  professing 
Christianity,  and  denied  to  the  rest.  And  to  which  of  the  two 
classes  any  individual  infant  belongs,  there  cannot  possibly  be 
any  ground  for  even  the  slightest  conjecture. 

In  the  case  of  an  adult  they  can  have,  it  is  supposed  (just 
as  in  the  case  of  the  other  sacrament,  the  Lord's  Supper),  if 
not  a  complete  and  certain  knowledge  whether  he  belongs  to 
the  class  of  the  elect  or  the  non-elect,  at  least  some  indica- 
tion from  his  professions  and  his  conduct,  —  indications  which 
an  infant,  of  course,  cannot  afford.  And  they  accordingly 
consider,  I  apprehend,  that  baptism  administered  to  infants 
connot  be  a  sign  of  regeneration,  since  there  cannot  be  even 
any  presumption  of  its  being  accompanied  by  any  spiritual 
advantage  at  all. 

And  certainly  it  must  be  admitted  that,  according  at  least 
to  the  ordinary  use  of  language,  a  sign  of  anything  is  under- 
stood to  be  such  from  its  being  regularly  accompanied  by  that 
thing  of  which  it  is  a  sign,  or  at  least  by  some  reasonable 
presumption  of  its  presence.  When,  for  instance,  we  speak 
of  a  certain  dress  or  badge  being  a  sign  of  a  man's  belonging 
to  a  certain  regiment,  or  order  of  knighthood,  or  the  like,  we 
understand  that  it  is  to  be  something  joecwZiar/y  belonging  to 
them,  and  serving  to  distinguish  them  from  others.  If  a  dress 
or  badge  were  worn  indifferently  by  an  indefinite  number  of 
persons,  some  belonging  to  this  regiment  or  order  and  some 
not,  we  should  consider  that  it  had  ceased  to  be  a  sign  at  all, 
having  no  longer  any  signification.  It  is  on  these  grounds,  I 
conceive,  that  many  of  those  who  hold  that  doctrine  of  absolute 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  323 

decrees  I  have  been  alluding  to,  adhere  to,  or  have  joined,  the 
communion  of  those  calling  themselves,  and  commonly  called. 
Baptists.^ 

Our  safest  and  most  humbly  pious  course,  however,  is,  in 
any  practical  question,  to  endeavor  to  ascertain,  in  the  first 
instance,  what  was  the  practice  of  the  apostles ;  and  to  adhere 
to  that  whenever  we  think  that  the  rules  or  customs  they  sanc- 
tioned were  not  of  a  merely  local  or  temporary  character,  but 
were  equally  suited  to  our  own  age  and  country.  And  not 
only  is  respect  due  to  their  practices,  but  these  practices  will 
often  throw  light  on  their  doctrine ;  since  whatever  belief,  on 
any  point,  seems  naturally  to  be  implied  in  what  they  were 
accustomed  to  do,  may  be  presumed  to  have  been  their  belief. 
And  we  ought  surely  rather  to  put  ourselves  under  their  teach- 
ing, where  it  is  to  be  had,  than  to  adopt  and  act  upon  the 
inferences  drawn  from  any  theological  theory  of  our  own. 

§  IV.  Now  with  respect  to  the  question  of  infant-baptism, 
though  there  is  not  in  Scripture  any  express  in-  ^^  ^.^   .^^^ 

junction  or  prohibition  relating  to  it,  any  one     the  practice  of  the 

"  ^  o  ^  primitive     church 

who  inquires  with  an  unbiassed  mind  may  arrive,     witii  respect  to  bap- 
tism. 
I  think,  at  a  complete  moral  certainty  as  to  what 

was  the  practice  of  the  apostles  and  other  primitive  Christians.^ 

1  See  Note  C,  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 

2  On  this  point  a  novel  and  very  strange  theory  —  combining  the  premises  of 
one  party  with  the  conclusion  of  the  opposite  — has  been  devised  in  Germany, 
and  has  been  I  believe  adopted  by  some  few  in  our  own  country;  namely,  that 
the  apostles  never  practised  or  approved  infant-baptism,  but  that  nevertheless 
we,  the  Christians  of  the  present  day,  are  quite  right  in  departing  from  the  apos- 
tolic principle  and  institution,  and  administering  the  rite  to  infants.  Though 
we  do  not — like  the  Komish  Church  —  claim  infallibility,  and  profess  to  be  under 
the  guidance  of  Christ's  vicegerent  on  earth,  who  is  authorized  to  "  develop  " 
new  doctrines,  and  to  change  divine  institutions  (as  in  denying  the  cup  to  the 
laity),  still  we  are  at  liberty,  it  seems,  to  act  as  if  we  did  possess  this  infallible 
authority,  and  to  improve  upon  the  principles  and  practice  of  the  apostles  at  our 
own  discretion. 


324  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

For  several  years,  we  should  remember,  they  were  all  Jews. 
And  even  after  the  Gentiles  had  begun  to  be  engrafted  into  the 
church,  the  gospel  was  still,  in  each  place,  preached  first  in  the 
Jewish  synagogue ;  and  the  greatest  part  of  the  most  eminent 
teachers  were  of  that  nation. 

Now,  men  brought  up  under  the  law^,  would,  of  course,  ad- 
here to  the  principles  of  that  law,  wherever  these  were  not 
at  variance  with  Christianity,  and  would  be  disposed  to  view 
everything  in  the  gospel  according  to  the  analogy  of  Judaism, 
except  when  taught  otherwise.  And  their  inspired  instructors 
did  teach  them  otherwise  when  there  was  need.  Whenever 
this  disposition  was  carried  to  a  faulty  excess,  —  as  in  the  well- 
known  instance  (Acts  xv.)  of  the  attempt  to  place  Gentile 
Christians  under  the  Levitical  law,  —  the  error  was,  we  may 
be  sure,  as  in  that  instance,  promptly  corrected,  and  firmly 
resisted  by  the  apostles. 

Now  baptism,  having  always  been  clearly  understood  to  be 
the  initiatory  rite  by  which  members  were  admitted  into  the 
Christian  church,^  it  cannot,  I  think,  be  doubted,  by  any  un- 


I  shall  not  undertake  to  refute  this  theory,  because  I  cannot  but  think  that 
any  one  who  can,  on  calm  reflection,  adopt  it,  must  be  beyond  the  reach  of 
argument. 

To  the  Germans  we  owe  many  important  investigations,  and  many  valuable 
thoughts.  But  it  cannot  be  denied  that  a  large  portion  of  them  have  shown  a 
tendency  to  be  carried  away  by  a  craving  for  originality,  and  to  be  misled  by 
their  own  ingenuity  in  its  pursuit.  It  was  a  proverb  among  the  ancient  Romans 
that  "Africa  was  always  producing  some  new  monster."  And  something  anal- 
ogous may  be  said  of  Germany. 

One  way  of  producing  (ideal)  monsters,  from  common  materials,  is  by  com- 
bining  incongruous  parts  of  things  really  existing.  Such  was  the  fabled  Chi- 
maera,  which  was  made  up  of  parts  of  common  and  well-known  animals,  joined 
together  as  they  never  were  or  could  be.  Such  were  the  Centaurs,  and  the  sup- 
posed picture  described  by  Horace  in  his  Art  of  Poetry.  And  a  perfectly  mHg- 
inal  theory  may  be  in  like  manner  framed  (to  which  the  title  of  "Chimara" 
would  not  be  inapplicable)  out  of  opinions  in  common  circulation,  by  putting 
together  the  conclusions  of  the  one  side  and  the  reasons  of  the  other. 

I  Agreeably  to  our  Lord's  charge  to  his  apostles  (Matthew  xxviii.)  the  exact 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  325 

prejudiced  inquirer,  that  the  early  Christians  must  have  been 
prepared  to  observe  the  like  rules  in  admitting  (by  baptism) 
members  into  the  Christian  church,  to  those  they  had  been 
accustomed  to,  in  reference  to  the  Jewish.  If  it  had  been  the 
rule  to  admit  adults  only  into  the  Mosaic  covenant  —  if  infancy 
had  been  a  bar  to  any  one's  reception  —  then  they  would  never 
have  thought  of  baptizing  children  into  the  Christian  church, 
unless  expressly  commanded  to  do  so.  If —  as  is  the  fact  —  they 
had  been  accustomed  to  enrol  in  the  Jewish  church  their  own 
infants,  and  proselytes  of  all  ages,  then  they  would,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  adhere  to  the  same  rule  in  reference  to  the  Chris- 
tian church,  unless  expressly  forbidden}  And  so  strong  and 
universal  must  have  been  the  disposition  to  bring  to  baptism 
the  children  of  believers,  that  if  this  had  not  been  allowable, 
we  should  undoubtedly  have  found  in  the  New  Testament  most 
distinct  and  frequent  notices  of  its  prohibition.  As  for  distinct 
injunctions  or  recommendations,  these  could  not  have  been  at 
all  needed  in  favor  of  any  practice  about  which  there  had  never 
been  any  hesitation. 

And  as  for  the  many  scruples  and  questions  that  have  been 
raised  relative  to  infant-baptism,  none  of  these  would  be  likely 
even  to  occur  to  their  minds ;  because  they  had  been  familiar 
all  their  lives  with  the  admission  into  the  Mosaic  covenant  of 
infants,  incapable,  at  the  time,  of  availing  themselves  of,  or  at 
all  understanding,  the  benefits  of  that  covenant. 

rendering  of  which  is  '•  make  disciples  of  all  nations  "  (that  is,  enrol  them  as 
members  of  the  church)  "  by  baptizing  them  into  the  name,"  etc. 

The  marginal  rendering  of  ixa^f]r€V(TaTi  in  our  Bible  is  preferable  to  that  in 
the  text. 

See  also  Acts  viii.  36  and  x.  47. 

1  "  There  is  a  presumption  in  favor  of  every  existing  institution.  Many  of 
these  (we  will  suppose  the  majority)  may  be  susceptible  of  alteration  for  the 
better;  but  still,  the  'burden  of  proof  lies  with  him  who  proposes  an  alteration, 
simply  on  the  ground  that  since  a  change  is  not  a  good  in  itself,  he  who  demands 
a  change  should  show  cause  for  it."  —  Eelments  of  Rhetoric. 

28 


326  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

§  V.  We  have  therefore,  I  conceive,  a  complete  moral  cer- 
^     tainty  that  the  earliest  Christians  did  practise 

The  gospel  viewed  •'  '■ 

by    the    earliest     infant-baptism,  and  that  it  received  at  least  the 

Christians  through 

the  medium  of  the  lacit  sanction  and  approval  of  the  apostles ; 
whose  prohibitions  of  it  we  should  not  have 
failed  to  find  recorded,  had  it  been  at  all  objectionable. 

But  in  this,  and  in  several  other  points  also,  difficulties,  and 
sometimes  serious  mistakes,  are  likely  to  arise  from  want  of 
sufficient  care  to  view  the  gospel  through  the  medium  of  the 
law ;  —  to  recollect,  that  is,  not  only  that  the  Mosaic  dispen- 
sation itself  was  the  forerunner  and  type  of  the  Christian,  which 
fulfilled  and  extended  it,  but  also  that  Christianity  was  first 
preached  hy,  and  to,  men  who  had  been  brought  up  Jews ;  and 
that  accordingly  we  must  carefully  consider,  and  steadily  keep 
in  mind,  what  were  the  habits  and  modes  of  thought  of  Jews 
of  that  age  and  country,  and  in  what  way  they  would  be  likely 
to  understand  and  to  act  upon  the  precepts  and  doctrines  deliv- 
ered to  them;  for  the  interpretations  which  were  the  most 
obvious  to  them  will  be  often  different  from  what  may  be  the 
most  obvious  to  us  of  the  present  day.  And  again,  it  will  often 
happen  that  what  were  to  them  the  greatest  difficulties  (as,  for 
instance,  the  admission  of  the  Gentiles  to  be  "  fellow-heirs ") 
will  be  to  us  no  difficulties  at  all.  And  whatever  meaning 
presented  itself  to  their  minds,  may  be  presumed  to  be  the  right 
one,  whenever  they  were  not  taught  otherwise  by  their  inspired 
guides  the  apostles,  who  were  at  hand  to  correct  any  mistakes 
they  might  fall  into. 

Thus,  for  instance,  if  we  would  inquire  what  we  are  to  un- 
derstand by  "  saints  "  —  "  God's  people  "  —  and  "  the  elect " 
("chosen"),  etc.,  our  safest  course  (as  was  remarked  in  Essay 
III.)  is  to  look  to  the  sense  in  which  an  Israelite  had  been 
accustomed  to  hear  those  words  employed,  and  to  consider  how 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  327 

he  would  be  likely  to  understand  them,  by  analogy,  in  reference 
to  the  gospel  dispensation.^ 

And  so,  also,  if  we  would  understand  what  was  meant  by  the 
"  baptizing  of  a  household  "  which  we  read  of  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, —  whether  it  included,  or  not,  the  infant  children  of  the 
believing  parents,  —  our  guide  should  be  the  practice  of  the 
Israelites  in  reference  to  any  Gentile  family,  the  heads  of  which 
had  renounced  idolatry  and  desired  to  be  admitted  as  proselytes 
—  as  Israelites  by  adoption  —  into  the  number  of  God's  chosen 
people  under  the  old  dispensation.  "Let  all  his  males  be 
circumcised,  and  then  let  him  draw  near  and  eat  the  pass- 
over,"  was  the  direction  of  the  law  under  which  they  acted. 

And  if  an  intelligent  and  well-disposed  Israelite  had  been 
asked  what  benefit  he  contemplated  as  accruing  from  enrolment 
in  the  number  of  God's  people  to  an  infant,  incapable  of  either 
obeying  or  disobeying  the  law,  and  of  enjoying  or  understand- 
ing the  promised  blessings  of  the  covenant,  he  would  probably 
have  replied,  that  the  child  —  being  dedicated  to  the  Lord  by 
Jewish  parents  or  guardians,  solemnly  bound  to  instruct  and 
bring  him  up  as  a  Jew — might  be  expected,  as  soon  as  he  should 
be  able  and  as  far  as  he  should  be  able  to  understand  these 
things,  to  become,  gradually,  an  observer  of  the  law  and  a 
partaker  of  its  benefits ;  and  that,  then,  he  would  not  obtain  a 
new  possession  of  something  which,  before,  was  not  his,  but 
would  merely  enter  on  the  full  enjoyment  of  a  benefit  previ- 
ously conferred  on  him. 

The  case,  in  short,  would  be  viewed  as  analogous  to  some 
which  occur  every  day  in  the  ordinary  business  of  life.  In  the 
common  language,  for  instance,  of  secular  business,  a  person  is 
said  to  have  received,  as  a  payment  or  as  a  gift,  such  and 
such  a  sum  of  money,  even  when  no  money  is  actually  handed 
to  him,  but  only  a  draft  on  some  banker,  who  is  ready  to  pay 

1  See  Sermon  on  Chrietian  Saints. 


328  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

it  as  soon  as  presented.  And  we  speak  of  him  as  having  re- 
ceived this  sum,  although  we  know  that  he  may  possibly  not 
present  the  draft  for  several  days  or  weeks;  or  may  even, 
through  gross  negligence,  fail  ever  to  present  it  at  all.  Or, 
again,  take  the  case  of  an  infant  inheriting  an  estate,  or  a  title, 
or  the  "  freedom  "  of  some  corporation.  Though  not  capable, 
at  the  time,  of  profiting  by  or  understanding  these  advantages, 
he  will  subsequently  become  so ;  and  will  then,  if  he  use  them 
aright,  not  acquire  any  new  possession,  but  derive  the  suitable 
advantages  from  those  to  which  he  was  already  entitled.  And 
even  as  the  inheritor  of  a  fortune  may,  when  he  grows  up, 
make  either  a  good  or  ill  use  of  his  wealth,  so,  any  one,  whether 
the  child  of  an  Israelite  by  birth,  or  of  a  proselyte  admitted  into 
the  Jewish  church,  might,  in  after  life,  either  avail  himself 
rightly  of  the  privileges  thus  bestowed  on  him,  or  convert  them 
into  a  curse  by  his  neglect  or  abuse  of  them. 

And  supposing  this  latter  case,  —  supposing  the  son  of  some 
devout  proselyte  to  have  become  an  idolater,  or  in  some  other 
way  a  transgressor  of  the  law,  —  he  would,  no  doubt,  have  been 
admonished  (by  a  prophet,  or  other  pious  Jew)  not  to  become 
an  Israelite,  —  not  to  seek  admission  into  the  number  of  God's 
chosen  people,  —  but  to  repent  and  return  to  the  Lord,  to  re- 
form his  life,  and  to  walk  worthy  of  the  privileges  to  which  he 
had  been  admitted. 

Now  all  this  an  intelligent  and  pious  Jew,  who  should  have 
embraced  the  gospel,  would  naturally  be  inclined  to  apply,  by 
analogy,  to  the  case  of  the  Christian  dispensation. 

§  VI.  And  accordingly  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  these, 

Paul's  view  of  the     thc  Apostlc  Paul  himsclf,  directs  the  attention 

ZtSLJSirrZ     of  his  converts  to  such  an  analogy :  applying  the 

dispensations.  ^^^^  ^.^^.j  a  laptized''  to  the  Israelites  on  their 

deliverance   from  Egypt ;   whom  he  speaks  of  as  being  all 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  329 

"  chosen "  to  be  partakers  of  special  divine  favors ;  while  yet 
—  as  he  reminds  the  Corinthians  (1  Cor.  x.)  — most^  of  those 
very  men  "  wei'e  overthrown  in  the  wilderness ; "  not  accord- 
ing to  any  eternal  divine  decree  (at  least  he  mentions  none) 
excluding  them  from  the  promised  blessings,  but  as  a  con- 
sequence of  their  obstinate  rebellions.  It  was  because  "  they 
thought  scorn  of  that  pleasant  land,  and  gave  no  credence  unto 
his  word, "  that  the  Lord  ''  sware  unto  them  that  they  should 
not  enter  into  his  rest."  And  all  "  these  things,"  Paul  tells  the 
Corinthians,  "  are  written  for  the  admonition  "  of  Christians. 

It  is  thus  that  (as  I  have  remarked  above)  we  may  plainly 
learn  from  the  practice  of  the  early  church  what  were  the 
doctrines  taught  in  it.  Having  ascertained  what  the  early 
Christians  were  accustomed,  under  the  guidance  of  the  apostles, 
to  do  in  reference  to  the  administration  of  baptism,  we  may 
thence  safely  infer  what  was  their  belief  od.  the  subject. 

And  here  it  is  to  be  remarked,  by  the  way,  that  I  have 
been  representing  a  pious  and  intelligent  Israelite  as  speaking, 
all  along,  of  the  case  of  children  brought  forward  for  dedication 
to  the  Lord,  by  parents  or  guardians  designing  to  educate  them 
accordingly.  He  would  surely  never  imagine  that  any  one  could 
have  a  right,  or  a  power,  to  admit  into  the  Mosaic  covenant  a 
Gentile  infant  who  was  to  be  brought  up  as  a  heathen.  And, 
by  parity  of  reasoning,  he  would  not,  as  a  Christian,  regard  as 
of  any  avail,  or  as  a  valid  baptism  at  all,  the  performance  of 
an  outward  ceremony  on  an  infant  that  is  to  be  brought  up  — 
as  far  as  we  know  and  believe  —  in  entire  ignorance  of  Christian 
duties  and  privileges.  No  one  would  be  regarded  as  sowing 
seed  to  any  purpose,  or  indeed  as,  in  correct  language,  sowing 
it  at  all,  who  should  purposely  scatter  com  on  the  trodden 
wayside,  with  a  full  knowledge  that  it  would  be  immediately 
"  devoured  by  the  fowls  of  the  air,"  instead  of  springing  up, 

1  rois  irAeioffiy. 

28* 


330  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

and  producing,  "  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  and  afterwards 
the  full  corn  in  the  ear." 

I  mention  this  because  there  are  instances  recorded,  of 
priests  administering  by  stealth  (through  mistaken  pious  char- 
ity) what  they  regard  as  the  rite  of  Christian  baptism  to  the 
infants  of  savages,  or  of  Chinese  or  Hindu  idolaters.^  But  in 
our  church  it  is  plain  no  such  procedure  is  recognized.  Our 
formularies  all  along  most  plainly  contemplate  the  case  of  a 
child  brought  to  baptism  by  persons  pledging  themselves  to  its 
education  as  a  Christian.  In  the  narrative  so  earnestly  dwelt 
on  in  the  baptismal  service,  the  children  brought  to  our  Lord 
for  his  blessing  must  evidently  have  been  the  children  of  believ- 
ing parents.^  And  all  the  declarations  made  in  our  formularies 
—  the  hopes  expressed,  the  prayers,  the  exhortations,  in  short, 
everything  that  is  said  —  must  evidently  be  understood  as 
proceeding  on  this  supposition. 

And  accordingly  the  very  reason  assigned  in  the  catechism 
for  its  being  allowable  to  administer  baptism  to  infants,  is,  that 
as  there  are  certain   indispensable  conditions  of  the  benefits 

1  The  question  has  been  raised,  What  should  be  our  procedure  in  reference  to  a 
person  to  whom  an  intended  baptism  had  been  thus  rashly  administered,  suppos- 
ing him  (as  is  not  at  all  inconceivable)  to  come,  subsequently,  to  a  knowledge  of  the 
gospel :  are  we,  it  has  been  asked,  to  repeat  in  such  a  case,  the  external  ceremonj'? 

The  question,  in  any  such  case,  evidently  amounts  to  this :  whether  he  has  been 
really  baptized  or  not?  For  it  has  always  been  universally  held  that  baptism  is 
a  rite  which  cannot  be  repeated;  since  no  one  can  be  admitted  a  member  of  a 
society  of  which  he  is  a  member  already. 

In  every  case,  therefore,  in  which  there  is  a  doubt  as  to  the  answer  to  that  ques- 
tion, our  church  has  provided  a  conditional  form  expressly  to  meet  such  a  case. 
(See  Rubric  to  the  Office  for  Private  Baptism.) 

As  for  the  question,  Who  are  the  persons  to  whom  the  olBce  is,  or  should  be 
intrusted,  of  administering  the  rite  of  baptism?  On  this  I  have  made,  in  the 
Second  Essay  on  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  some  remarks  which  are  extracted  in 
Note  D  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 

2  See  Luke  xviii.  15.  The  right  rendering  of  to  fipecpr}  evidently  is,  in  this 
passage,  "  their  infants."  The  article  (which  our  translators  are  apt  to  overlook 
altogether)  has  often  the  sense  of  our  possessive  pronoun.  So  it  has  also  in 
French.    "I  have  a  pain  in  my  head,"  would  be  rendered  "  j'ai  mal  4  la  tete." 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  331 

promised  to  them,  so  the  fulfihneiit  of  these  conditions  is  prom- 
ised hy  them,  through  their  sureties.^ 

And  for  the  "  remission  of  sins  "  at  baptism,^  so  frequently 
alluded  to  in  our  services,  this,  it  is  plain,  cannot  be  understood 
of  actual  sins  in  the  case  of  an  infant,  which  is  not  a  moral 
agent  at  all,  nor  capable  of  either  transgressing  or  obeying 
God's  laws, — of  resisting,  or  of  following  the  suggestions  of 
his  Spirit.  Nor,  again,  can  it  mean  an  entire  removal  and 
abolition  of  the  frail  and  sinful  nature,  — the  '■'•phronema  sarhos" 
inherited  by  every  descendant  of  Adam  ;  since  our  9th  Article 
expressly  declares  that  this  "  remaineth  even  in  those  that  are 
regenerate."  ^  But  it  seems  to  denote  that  those  duly  baptized 
are  considered  no  longer  as  children  of  the  condemned  and 
disinherited  Adam,  —  as  no  longer  aliens  from  God,*  disquali- 
fied for  his  service,  and  excluded  from  the  offers  of  the  gospel, — 
but  are  received  into  the  number  of  God's  adopted  children, 
and  have  thrown  open  to  them,  as  it  were,  the  treasury  of 
divine  grace,  through  which,  if  they  only  avail  themselves  of 
it,  though  not  otherwise,  they  will  attain  final  salvation.* 

1  See  Note  E  at  the  end. 

2  The  words,  in  the  Nicene  Creed,  "  one  baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins," 
were  eagerly  appealed  to  by  some,  in  a  recent  controversy,  as  quite  decisive  of 
the  questions  at  issue.  They  seem  to  have  not  known,  or  to  have  forgotten,  that 
those  words  were  introduced  in  reference  to  a  totally  different  question,  —  one 
relating  to  repetition  of  baptism. 

3  There  certainly  is,  in  some  portions  of  the  baptismal  service,  an  indistinct- 
ness and  confusedness  of  language  (excellent  as  the  service  is,  as  a  whole)  which 
one  would  gladly  see  remedied.  For  we  read,  in  the  same  service,  of  the  "  re- 
mission "  to  infants  "  of  all  their  sins''''  and  of  an  exhortation  to  "  all  men  to 
follow  their  innocency .''''  Of  the  "  imputation"  of  Adam's  transgression,  1  have 
treated  at  large  in  Essay  VI.,  subjoining  an  extract  from  Archbishop  Sumner's 
Apostolical  Preaching. 

4  This  is  doubtless  what  is  meant  by  the  expression  "  children  of  wrath,"  in 
the  catechism,  and  "  deserving  God's  wrath  "  in  the  9th  Article.  The  reformers 
could  not  have  meant  the  words  '*  God's  icratW''  to  be  understood  in  their 
literal  sense;  since  they  had  laid  it  down  in  the  1st  Article  that  God  is  "  without 
body,  parts,  or  passions.''^ 

6  Those  who  seek  to  go  as  far  as  they  can  towards  doing  away  all  connection 


332  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

§  VII.  This   seems   to   be  the   most   simple  and   unforced 
interpretation  of  the  language  of  our  church  in 

Views  of  our  re- 
formers concerning     various  passages  of  her  formularies ;  as,  for  in- 
stance, in  the  catechism,  where  the  catechumen 

speaks  of  "  baptism,  wherein  I  was  made  a  child  of  God 

and  an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ; "  and  again,  where 
it  is  said  that  "  being  by  nature  born  in  sin we  are  hereby- 
made  the  children  of  grace." 

Now,  this  placing  of  a  person  in  a  different  condition  from 
that  in  which  he  was  originally  born,  may  not  unaptly  be 
designated  (as  it  appears  to  be  by  our  reformers)  by  the  term 
"  regeneration/'  or  "  new  birth."  ^ 

But  no  one  can  suppose  that  they  regarded  the  sowing  of 
seed  as  the  same  thing  with  the  full  maturity  of  the  corn  for 
harvest,  or  as  necessarily  implying  it.  To  be  born  into  the 
natural  world,  is  not  the  same  thing  as  to  be  grown  up ;  nor 
can  it  be  pronounced  of  every  infant  that  is  born  that  it  will, 
necessarily,  grow  up  to  manly  maturity.  So,  also,  our  reform- 
ers never  meant  to  teach  that  every  one  who  is  baptized  is  sure 
of  salvation  independently  of  his  "  leading  the  rest  of  his  life 
according  to  this  beginning "  (Baptismal  Service) ;  or,  again, 


of  spiritual  benefit  with  baptism,  and  reducing  it  to  a  mere  sign  of  admission 
into  &  community  possessing  no  spiritual  endowments  at  all,  sometimes  appeal  to 
the  case  of  Cornelius  and  his  friends,  on  whom  "the  Holy  Ghost  fell"  before 
they  were  baptized.  But  they  seem  to  forget  that  this  was  the  miraculous  gift 
oftongties,  of  prophecy,  etc.,  which  never  was,  nor  was  ever  supposed  to  be,  the 
"  inward  spiritual  grace  "  of  baptism.  It  was  never  conferred  at  baptism  (see 
Acts  viii.  16),  but  was  always  bestowed,  except  in  this  one  case  (in  which  there 
was  an  obvious  reason  for  the  exception),  through  the  laying  on  of  hands  of  an 
apostle  (see  Acts  xix.  G).  And  accordingly  the  Romans,  when  Paul  wrote  to 
them  (Rom.  i.  11),  had  received  no  miraculous  gifts,  though  they  were  baptized 
Christians,  and  were  reminded  by  the  apostle  that  "if  any  man  have  not  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his." 

1  The  Ninth  Article  has,  in  the  original  Latin,  the  word,  "  renati,"  twice; 
translated,  first,  "  regenerate,"  and  afterwards,  "  baptized."  See  Note  F  at  the 
end. 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  S33 

that  we  can  be  infallibly  sure  that  he  will  do  so ;  any  more 
than  we  can  pronounce  with  certainty,  according  to  the  analogy 
of  a  temporal  inheritance  above  alluded  to,  that  one  who  has 
an  estate  bequeathed  to  him  will  claim  his  inheritance  in  proper 
form,  and  will  also  make  that  right  use  of  his  wealth  on  which 
depends  its  becoming  a  real  blessing  to  him. 

The  expression  "an  inheritor  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven" 
seems  to  be  used  in  reference  to  the  tendency,  and  the  suitable 
result,  of  an  admission  into  the  church  of  Christ.  And  such  a 
kind  of  language  is  often  employed  by  all  writers,  and,  not  least, 
by  the  apostles.  When,  for  instance,  the  Apostle  John  says 
that  "  whatsoever  is  born  of  God,  overcometh  the  world,  and 
that  every  one  who  is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin,"  it 
cannot  be  supposed  that  he  meant  to  attribute  to  Christians 
moral  perfection  and  impeccahility  when,  on  the  contrary,  he 
exhorts  them  to  "  confess  their  sins."  Far  was  it  from  his  design 
to  teach  that  one  who  did  but  feel  convinced  of  having  experi- 
enced the  new  birth  might  safely  remit  his  exertions  and  relax 
his  vigilance  against  sin,  and  "  count  himself  to  have  appre- 
hended" and  to  be  thenceforward  sure  of  divine  acceptance 
and  of  everlasting  life,  without  "  taking  heed  lest  he  fall."  On 
the  contrary,  he  was  writing,  as  is  well  known,  in  opposition 
to  those  Gnostics  of  his  day  who  were  grossly  Antinomian,  and 
who,  while  they  professed  to  "  have  no  sin "  in  God's  sight, 
and  to  be  sure  of  salvation  through  their  supposed  "  knowing 
the  gospel"  (gnosis),  lived  a  life  of  flagrant  immorality. 

In  contradiction  to  these  monstrous  tenets,  he  declares  that 
every  one  who  has  a  well-grounded  "  hope  in  Christ  purifieth 
himself,  even  as  He  is  pure," —  that  a  sinful  life  is  inconsistent 
with  the  character  of  the  "  sons  of  God," —  that  the  tendency, 
in  short,  and  suitable  result  of  being  "  born  of  God,"  is  opposed 
to  the  commission  of  sin. 

And,  indeed,  in  all  subjects,  it  is  a  very  common  mode  of 


oJ4  WHATELT'S  ESSAYS. 

speaking  to  attribute  to  any  person  or  thing  some  quality, 
which,  though  not  an  invariable,  is  a  suitable,  or  natural  attri- 
bute, and  may  reasonably  be  looked  for  therein. 

In  this  way  many  words  have  come  to  vary  gradually  from 
their  original  signification.  For  instance,  to  "  cure,"  in  its 
etymological  sense  (from  "  curare  ")  signifies  to  take  care  of  a 
patient,  and  to  administer  medicines.  In  its  present  use,  it 
implies  the  successful  administration. 

So  also  it  is  with  the  word  Bcpairevoi,  which,  in  the  language 
of  the  New  Testament  writers,  signifies  not  to  tend,  but  to  heal. 

In  like  manner  we  often,  figuratively,  deny  some  title  to  an 
object  that  is  wanting  in  those  qualities  which  ought  to  belong 
to  it,  or  which  that  title  suggests  as  a  natural  and  consistent 
accompaniment,  and  what  may  fairly  be  expected.  Thus,  for 
instance,  in  speaking  of  some  act  of  excessive  baseness  or  de- 
pravity, it  is  not  uncommon  to  say,  "  one  who  would  be  guilty 
of  this,  is  not  a  man  ; "  meaning,  of  course,  that  such  conduct  is 
unworthy  of  the  manly  character,  —  inconsistent  with  what 
may  be  fairly  expected  from  a  man,  as  such,  and  more  suitable 
to  the  brutish  nature.^  But  so  far  are  we  from  understanding 
that  any  one  who  acts  thus  unworthily  is  not,  strictly  and 
literally,  a  man,  that,  on  the  contrary,  this  is  the  very  ground 
of  our  censure.  We  condemn  a  man  who  acts  the  part  of  a 
brute,  precisely  because  he  is  a  man  —  a  being  from  whom 
something  better  might  have  been  looked  for  —  and  not  one  of 
the  brute  creation. 

Again,  any  one  might  say  of  a  garden  that  was  greatly 
neglected,  and  overrun  with  wild  plants,  "  this  is  not  a  gar- 
den^^  or  "  it  does  not  deserve  the  name  of  a  garden ; "  though 

1  "  I  dare  do  all  that  may  become  a  man; 

"Who  dares  do  more,  is  7io»e." 

—Macbeth. 

Some  remarks  on  this  kind  of  language,  in  reference  to  another  subject,  will 

be  found  in  the  treatise  on  Rhetoric,  Part  III.  chapter  iii.  §  3. 


01^  INFANT-BAPTISM.  335 

it  is  precisely  because  it  is,  literally,  a  garden,  that  we  speak 
thus  contemptuously  of  it ;  since,  in  an  uncultivated  spot,  the 
sight  of  a  luxuriant  vegetation  does  not  offend  the  eye. 

It  is  in  a  similar  mode  of  speaking  that  Paul  declares  that 
"  he  is  not  a  Jew  who  is  one  outwardly :  neither  is  that  cir- 
cumcision which  is  outward  in  the  flesh ;  but  he  is  a  Jew  who 
is  one  inwardly ;  and  circumcision  is  of  the  heart,"  ^  etc.,  — 
meaning,  as  no  doubt  every  one  must  have  understood  him,  that 
one  who  is  not  in  his  heart  and  in  his  conduct  a  servant  of  the 
Lord,  is  wanting  in  what  ought  to  characterize  the  Lord's 
people,  —  is  inconsistent  yfiih.  his  profession,  and  an  umuorthy 
member  of  the  Jewish  church; — one  who  will  derive  no  benefit, 
but  the  contrary,  from  the  privileges  to  which  he  has  been 
admitted  as  a  Jew.  For  it  is  because  such  a  one  is  literally  a 
Jew,  that  he  will  incur  a  heavier  penalty  than  an  unenlightened 
heathen. 

He  might  equally  well  have  said,  —  and  doubtless  would 
have  been  ready  to  say, — according  to  the  same  kind  of  figure, 
that  he  is  not  a  "baptized"  Christian — he  is  not  "regenerate" 
—  who  is  so  outwardly  alone,  and  has  nothing  of  the  Christian 
character  within.  And  indeed  the  Apostle  Peter  actually  does 
employ  similar  language  in  speaking  of  baptism  (which,  he 
says,  "  saveth  us ")  when  he  says  that  it  is  "  not  the  putting 
away  the  filth  of  the  flesh  "  (that  is,  the  outward  application  of 
water),  "  but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God  ; " 
not  meaning  that  a  person  deficient  in  this  has  not  been,  literally, 
and  in  the  strict  and  proper  sense  of  the  word,  baptized  at  all, 
and  needs  to  have  that  rite  administered  to  him,  but  that  he 
is  wanting  in  that  which  is  the  proper  and  beneficial  result  of 
an  admission  into  the  Christian  church. 

And  corresponding  forms  of  expression  are  very  common 
on  various  subjects;  and   seldom  give  rise  to  any  error,  or 

1  Rom.  ii.  28. 


336  WIIATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

confusion  of  thought,  or  obscurity,  except  in  those  cases  (re- 
ligious discussions  are  among  the  principal)  in  which  men, 
under  the  influence  of  some  strong  prejudice,  exercise  their  in- 
genuity in  seeking  for  anything  that  may  serve  as  an  argument, 
and  in  interpreting  words  according  to  the  letter  and  against 
the  spirit,  for  the   sake  of  supporting  some  favorite  theory. 

§  VIII.  Once  more,  then,  I  would  invite  attention  to  the 
importance  of  examining  carefully,  in  any  con- 
usingTariouT^ex-  trovcrsy  that  may  arise,  how  far  it  may  turn  on 
fhTimeiruth?'''^  differences  in  the  expressions  employed.  Let 
any  two  persons,  whose  views  appear  at  the 
first  glance  widely  at  variance,  be  prevailed  on  to  depart,  for  a 
time  at  least,  from  the  strict  technical  language  of  a  theolog- 
ical school,  and  to  state,  in  as  many  different  forms  as  possible, 
what  is  the  practical  advice  they  would  give  to  each  Christian 
under  various  circumstances ;  and  it  will  often  come  out,  that 
one  whom  his  neighbor  had  perliaps  been  at  first  disposed  to 
condemn  as  abandoning  some  fundamental  truths  of  Christianity, 
has,  in  fact,  merely  avoided  the  particular  terms  in  which  the 
other  has  been  accustomed  to  express  them ;  and  the  difference 
between  the  parties  is  not  such,  either  in  degree  or  in  kind,  as 
had  been  supposed.^ 

In  guarding,  however,  against  verbal  controversies  mistaken 
for  real^  I  would  not  be  understood  as  thinking  little  of  the 

1  At  the  time  when  the  first  outcry  was  raised  against  Dr.  Hampden's  Bamp- 
ton  Lectures,  many  persons,  no  doubt,  who  joined  in  it,  had  no  design  to  com- 
mit injustice,  but  had  been  taught  to  think  tliat  the  work  was  really  unsound. 
He  had  traced  to  the  school-men  many  of  the  phrases  which  are  commonly 
employed  in  expressing  certain  doctrines;  and  hence  it  was  rashly  inferred  that 
he  intended  to  represent  the  doctrines  themselves  as  of  human  origin.  The 
inference  was  drawn  by  those  (the  great  majority  of  his  censurers)  who  had 
never  read  the  work  itself,  but  only  artfully-garbled  extracts.  —  See  The  Church 
and  the  Universities. 

2  See  Logic,  ♦'  Verbal  Questions." 


ox  INFANT-BAPTISM.  337 

importance  of  careful  accuracy  of  language.  Indeed,  the  very- 
circumstance  that  inattention  to  this  may  lead  to  serious  mis- 
takes as  to  our  meaning,  would  alone  be  sufBcient  to  shov/  how 
needful  it  is  to  be  careful  as  to  our  mode  of  expression. 

For  instance,  cases  have  come  under  my  own  knowledge, 
in  which  an  active  minister,  sincerely  attached  to  our  church, 
has  found,  to  his  astonishment  and  mortification,  that  his  people 
were,  one  by  one,  dropping  off  into  the  sect  of  the  Baptists ; 
and  that  these  seceders  were  almost  exclusively  the  very  per- 
sons who  had  been  the  most  attentive  to  his  instructions,  and 
the  most  promising.  This  circumstance  induced  me,  when 
consulted  on  such  a  case,  to  inquire  carefully  as  to  the  language 
which  he  had  employed  in  speaking  of  baptism  and  points 
connected  therewith.  And  I  found,  and  pointed  out  to  the 
complainant,  that  he  had  been,  in  fact,  undesignedly  preparing 
the  way  for  these  conversions,  by  using  such  expressions  as 
were  likely  to  be  understood,  and  actually  had  been  understood, 
in  a  sense  favoring  the  Baptist  doctrine  ;  so  that  his  most  atten- 
tive hearers,  whenever  they  came  in  the  way  of  a  teacher  of 
that  persuasion,  were  induced  to  adopt  at  once  the  inferences 
from  the  premises  already  established  in  their  minds. 

However  charitably  we  may  judge  of  the  members  of  that 
or  of  any  other  communion,  it  is  clearly  the  duty  of  members 
of  a  church  which  does  allow  infant-baptism  to  guard  against 
being  so  understood  as  to  encourage  secession  from  that  church. 

And  here  it  may  be  remarked,  that  the  clergy  have  an  espe- 
cial opportunity,  and  an  especial  call,  for  giving  early,  and 
full,  and  systematic  instruction  on  all  the  points  here  touched 
on,  in  their  discharge  of  that  most  important  branch  of  their 
duty,  the  preparing  of  children  for  the  solemn  ordinance  of 
CONFIRMATION.  The  coursc  of  that  preparation  affords  them 
a  most  fitting  occasion  for  explaining  to  them  the  character  of 
29 


338  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

the  sacraments  according  to  the  views  of  our  church ;  which 
evidently  designs  to  make  confirmation,  not  a  distinct  sacra- 
ment, but  a  connecting  link  between  the  tv/o,  —  a  kind  of  sup- 
plement and  completion  to  the  one,  and  an  introduction  to  the 
other.^  And  this  sacred  rite  has  the  advantage,  when  duly 
administered  to  persons  properly  prepared,  of  obviating  every 
reasonable  objection  to  the  practice  of  infant-baptism,  and  thus 
justifying,  and  exhibiting  as  an  harmonious  whole,  the  system 
of  church  ordinances  established  by  our  reformers. 

§  IX.     The  importance  of  taking  care  not  to  exaggerate 
differences,  or  hastily  to  form  harsh  judgments, 

,    ,  .  Effects  produced 

I  have  dwelt  on  with  especial  earnestness,  in  by  unchristian  bit- 
treating  of  the  present  subject,  on  account  of  the  ^""^J," 
contests  relative  to  that  subject  which  have  of 
late  years  been  agitating  our  church.^  These  contests  have 
been  conducted  by  some,  unhappily,  of  those  engaged  on  each 
side,  with  not  a  little  of  unchristian  acrimony.  And  the  tone 
of  insolence  and  of  bitterness  displayed  by  some  of  the  dispu- 
tants, which  has  been  strongly  and  justly  censured  by  some  of 
their  opponents,  has  been  imitated  by  those  opponents.     They 

1  It  was  with  a  view  to  impress  this  the  more  strongly  on  the  minds  of  all  parties 
concerned,  that  I  adopted  in  my  own  diocese  the  plan  of  adding  on  the  com- 
munion service  to  that  of  confirmation,  and  receiving  no  candidates  for  confirm- 
ation but  such  as  were  prepared  to  attend  the  Lord's  Table  immediately.  The 
error  was  thus  the  more  effectually  guarded  against  (an  error  which  I  well  knew 
to  be  prevalent),  of  bringing  forward  for  confirmation  persons  unfit  or  unwilling 
to  partake  of  the  eucharist;  and  who,  too  often,  never  do  partake  of  it  at  all. 

That  this  is  quite  at  variance  with  the  design  of  our  church,  I  took  occasion  to 
set  forth  in  a  Tract  on  Confirmation,  from  which  I  have  subjoined  an  extract  in 
Note  G  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 

The  experience  of  many  years,  during  which  this  course  has  been  blessed  with 
the  happiest  results,  and  the  strong  testimony  of  the  most  assiduous  and  judi- 
cious of  the  clergy,  have  fully  confirmed  my  original  conviction  of  its  expedi- 
ency. 

2  For  some  remarks  on  the  particular  contest  chiefly  alluded  to,  see  Note  H 
at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


ON  IXF ANT-BAPTISM.  339 

have  been  guilty  to  at  least  an  equal  degree  of  tlie  very  faults 
they  had  been  condemning. 

Such  contests  have  excited  the  exulting  scorn,  not  only  of 
infidels,  but  of  those  Cliristians  of  various  denominations  whose 
zeal  for  their  sect  or  church  outweighs  their  regard  for  the 
universal  church  of  Christ,  and  in  whom  party  spirit  has  nearly 
swallowed  up  the  true  spirit  of  the  gospel. 

Among  others,  we  find  the  members  of  a  church  which 
professes  to  be,  not  a  branch,  but  the  whole,  of  the  catholic  — 
that  is,  universal  —  church  (and  which,  if  so,  must  compre- 
hend all  Christians,  of  whatever  denomination)  taunting  other 
churches  —  parts  of  itself,  supposing  its  pretentions  just  —  with 
their  internal  dissensions,  and  representing  its  own  (alleged) 
exemption  from  discord  and  unity  of  doctrine  as  a  mark  of 
divine  truth.-^ 

But  however  justly  we  may  censure  such  exultation,  great 
must  be  the  grief,  at  the  occasion  given  for  it,  that  must  be  felt 
by  those  of  the  most  truly  Christian  character.  Greatly  must 
such  a  man,  whether  of  our  own  communion  or  of  any  other, 
be  shocked  at  the  spectacle  of  dissensions  among  professing 
Christians,  and  of  the  evil  passions  which  are  too  often  called 
forth  and  displayed  on  such  occasions. 

I  have  said  "  called  forth  and  displayed  "  because  one  cannot 
but  feel  convinced  on  reflection  —  and  it  is  one  of  the  most 
painful  reflections  suggested  by  the  circumstances  attendant  on 
controversies — that  the  evil  dispositions  thus  called  into  action 

1  Most  of  those  to  whom  such  reasoning  is  addressed  will  not  know,  or  will 
not  recollect,  that  this  mark  belonged  most  emphatically  to  pagan  Eome  under 
the  persecuting  emperors,  and  to  Nebuchadnezzar  when  he  set  up  his  "  image 
of  gold."  For,  these  decreed,  and  promptly  executed  their  decrees  as  far  as 
their  power  extended,  that  whosoever  refused  to  worship  as  commanded,  should 
be  cast  into  the  fire. 

On  the  incompatibility  of  the  two  claims,— that  to  universality,  and  that  to 
exemption  from  divisionsand  errors,  —  I  have  treated  formerly,  in  works  from 
which  extracts  are  given  in  Note  I  at  the  end  of  this  Essay. 


840  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

must  have  existed  before,  in  persons  in  whom  perhaps  they  had 
never  been  suspected. 

Uncharitable  bigotry,  unscrupulous  and  reckless  party  spirit, 
spiritual  pride,  revengefulness,  malice,  and  the  like,  are  not 
dispositions  which  could  be  suddenly  created,  though  they  may 
be  suddenly  aroused  and  called  into  activity,  and  also  fostered 
and  increased,  by  the  excitement  of  a  contest.  They  must 
have  been  in  existence  already,  —  unknown,  probably,  to  the 
persons  themselves,  as  well  as  to  the  bystanders,  —  under  an 
appearance  of  Christian  meekness  and  candor  and  charity. 

Where  a  pool  of  transparent  water,  and  which  seemingly 
contains  no  impurity,  becomes,  on  being  agitated,  suddenly 
turbid  and  foul,  we  are  certain  that  the  offensive  impurities 
thus  thrown  up  are  not  called  into  existence  by  that  agitation 
but  must  have  been  lying  at  the  bottom  during  the  period  of 
tranquillity  and  apparent  purity. 

And  even  so  we  are  compelled  to  admit  the  mortifying 
conclusion  that  the  faults  and  follies  which  we  see  stirred  up 
by  an  agitating  contest,  must  have  been  all  along  latent  in  the 
breast  of  many  a  one  who  had  been  regarded  by  others,  and 
probably  by  himself,  as  of  a  far  different  character. 

What  any  one's  conduct  would  be,  under  each  particular 
kind  of  trial,  none  but  the  Searcher  of  hearts  can  know  with 
complete  certainty  before  the  trial  is  actually  made.  It  is  for 
us,  especially  to  examine  and  distrust  ourselves,  to  keep  a 
vigilant  guard  over  our  own  hearts,  and  to  act  on  the  apos- 
tolic precept,  "  Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth,  take  heed 
lest  he  faU." 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  341 


NOTES  TO  ESSAY  XL 


Note  A  — Page  320. 

This  severity  Is  so  far  from  being  mitigated  In  cases  where  religion 
is  concerned,  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  phrase  "  odium  theologlcum" 
has  become  proverbial.  I  cannot  but  wonder,  therefore,  that  In  a 
very  able  article  In  the  Edinburgh  Review  (April,  1850)  theological 
literature  should  be  spoken  of  as  "  a  protected  literature."  Indeed, 
the  reviewer  himself  seems,  In  what  he  had  said  just  above  (p.  526) 
to  establish  the  opposite  conclusion.  Some  remarks  on  this  point, 
introduced  Into  a  recent  edition  of  a  volume  of  Essays  (First  Series) 
I  here  subjoin : 

"  The  case  of  Bishop  Warburton,  however,  Is  only  one  out  of 
many  that  could  be  adduced  In  disproof  of  what  has  been  said  as  to 
'  theological  literature  being  a  protected  literature.'  The  fear  of 
odium  may  indeed  sometimes  deter  a  man  from  writing  against  the 
prevailing  religion ;  but  if  any  one  in  writing  for  it  calculates  on 
exemption  from  attacks,  he  is  not  unlikely  to  be  greatly  disappointed. 
If  he  write  in  defence  of  the  tenets  of  his  own  communion,  he  may 
perhaps  be  assailed  (supposing  his  work  to  attract  any  considerable 
notice),  not  only  by  the  members  of  other  communions,  but  by  very 
many  fellow-members  of  his  own ;  who  will  perhaps  charge  him  with 
*  paradox,'  or  '  heresy ;  *  or  with  going  too  far,  or  not  far  enough ; 
or  with  having  advanced,  or  not  having  advanced,  beyond  his  own 
original  principles ;  or  perhaps  with  all  of  these  faults  at  once.^  Or 
if,  again,  he  writes  In  defence  of  Christianity  generally,  he  will  prob- 
ably be  censured  by  a  greater  number  of  Christians,  of  various 
denominations,  than  of  antl-christians.  In  the  extracts  from  several 
writers  (to  which  many  others  might  have  been  added),  printed  in 
parallel  columns  at  the  end  of  the  Appendix  to  the  Logic,  a  specimen 

1  "  That  all  these  complaints  have  been  made  not  only  of  the  same  individuals 
but  by  members  of  the  same  religious  party,  may  seem  something  almost  incred- 
ible J  but  it  is  a  fact. 

29* 


342  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

may  be  seen  of  tlie  sort  of  '  protection '  likely  to  be  enjoyed  by  a 
work  on  Christian  Evidence.  Some  wlio  are  sincere  believers,  if 
not  in  the  truth  of  Christianity,  at  least  in  its  utility  to  the  mass  of 
the  people,  are  afraid  that  these  would  be  shaken  in  their  belief  by 
inquiry  and  reflection.^  Others,  again,  being  anxious  that  the  people 
should  believe  not  only  in  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity,  but  in 
several  oilier  things  besides,  of  which  no  satisfactory  proof  can  be 
afforded,  are  fearful  of  giving  any  one  the  habit  of  seeking  and  find- 
ing good  grounds  for  one  portion  of  his  faith,  lest  he  should  require 
equally  valid  reasons  for  believing  the  rest,  and  should  reject  what 
cannot  be  so  proved ;  and,  accordingly,  they  prefer  that  the  whole 
should  be  taken  on  trust  —  on  the  strength  of  mere  assertion.  And 
enthusiasts,  again,  of  all  descriptions,  being  accustomed  to  believe 
whatever  they  do  believe  on  the  evidence  of  their  own  feelings  and 
fancies  alone,  are  most  indignant  against  any  one  who  —  in  com- 
pliance with  the  apostolic  precept  —  endeavors  to  give,  and  to  teach 
others  to  give, '  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  them.' 

"  On  the  whole,  therefore,  it  does  not  appear  that  anything  like 
*  protection '  can  be  reckoned  on,  for  works  either  on  Christianity 
itself,  or  on  any  particular  doctrines  of  it." 


Note  B  —  Page  321. 

The  proper  designation  of  these  is  Antipaedobaptists.  But  this, 
though  otherwise  unexceptionable,  is  so  awkwardly  long  a  title,  that 
it  is  not  in  common  use.  The  title  of  "  Baptists  "  and  that  of  "  Ana- 
baptists "  are  both  alike  objectionable,  as  being  what  J.  Bentham 
calls  "  question-begging  appellatives ; "  the  former  implying  that  their 
distinctive  tenet  is  right;  the  other  that  it  is  an  error. 

For,  when  an  adult  who  had  been  baptized  in  infancy  joins  their 
communion,  they  administer  to  him  the  rite  according  to  their  own 
system.  And  to  call  this  a  "  re-baptizing  "  (as  is  implied  by  the  term 
Anabaptist)  is  to  assume  that  his  original  baptism  was  real  and  valid ; 

1  "  A  speaker  in  an  illustrious  assembly  professed,  according  to  the  reporters, 
his  firm  adherence  to  the  religion  of  the  Established  Church,  as  being  'the  reli- 
gion of  his  ancestors.'  And  this  sentiment  was  received  with  cheers;  some  of 
the  hearers  probably  not  recollecting  that  on  that  principle  the  worship  of  Thor 
and  Woden  would  claim  precedence. 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  343 

"vvhlcli  is  the  very  point  tliey  deny.  On  the  other  hand,  the  term 
Baptist,  as  a  distinguishing  appellation,  implies  that  iliey  alone  really 
baptize,  and  that  the  so-called  baptism  of  all  others  is  void  and  un- 
real ;  which  is  equally  to  prejudge  the  question  on  the  other  side. 

It  should  be  added  that  those  I  have  been  alluding  to  are  what  are 
called  "  Particular-Baptists."  There  is  another  denomination  (which, 
I  understand,  is  much  less  numerous),  called  "  General-Baptists," 
who  do  not  teach  the  predestinarian  doctrines  alluded  to. 

On  the  subject  of  "  terms  of  reproach,"  I  have  offered  some  re- 
marks in  the  Appendix  to  the  Third  Series  of  Essays. 

Any  one  who  deprecates,  as  a  reproachful  term,  or  for  any  other 
reason,  the  application  of  some  name  to  the  church  or  class  he  be- 
longs to,  should  be  careful  to  adopt  for  it  some  designation  which 
does  not  imply  a  reproach  to  his  neighhors ;  else,  though  these  may 
be  in  the  wrong  in  the  term  they  employ,  he  at  least  has  no  right  to 
complain. 

In  reference  to  what  I  have  said  of  the  "  Particular-Baptists,"  a 
writer  in  one  of  their  periodicals  vehemently  and  indignantly  dis- 
claimed on  their  behalf  the  doctrine  of  reprobation. 

It  was  far  from  my  intention  to  impute  to  any  persons  (not  advo- 
cates of  the  system  called  "  economy,"  "  double-doctrine,"  "  or  reserve  ") 
opinions  they  disavow.  But  I  had  always  understood  that  there  is  a 
portion  (and  much  the  largest  portion)  of  the  Baptist  denomination 
that  are  commonly  designated  as  Calvinistic,  and  account  themselves 
such.  And  Calvin  (see  note  A  to  Essay  III.,  p.  98)  not  only  incul- 
cates the  doctrine  of  reprobation,  but  insists  on  its  being  inseparable 
from  his  doctrine  of  election,  and  derides  as  silly  and  puerile  the 
attempt  to  disjoin  them. 

Now  the  writer  I  have  alluded  to  does  not  say  whether  those  of 
his  communion  disclaim  the  title  of  Calvinist ;  which  has  a  manifest 
tendency  to  mislead,  if  applied  to  any  one  who  rejects  one  funda- 
mental article  of  Calvin's  system.  Nor  does  he  give  any  explanation 
of  the  sense  in  which  he  and  his  friends  hold  the  doctrine  of  election, 
so  as  not  to  imply,  necessarily,  reprobation  ;  an  explanation  which 
is  evidently  requisite ;  since,  else,  a  man  must  certainly  be  regarded 
as  teaching  —  whatever  may  be  his  own  inward  belief —  anything 
that  is  clearly  implied  in  what  he  does  say. 

In  reference  to  the  subject  here  treated  of,  I  take  the  liberty  of 
extracting  a  passage  from  a  work  which  has  been  for  many  years 
well  known  and  highly  esteemed  by  the  public  : 


344  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

"  Another  practical  evil  of  the  doctrine  of  special  grace,  is  the 
necessity  which  it  implies  of  some  test  of  God's  favor,  and  of  the 
reconcilement  of  Christians  to  him,  beyond  and  subsequent  to  the 
covenant  of  baptism.  St.  Paul,  it  has  been  seen,  insists  upon  the 
necessity  of  regeneration  ;  he  declares  that  '  the  natural  man  receiv- 
eth  not  the  things  of  God,  neither  can  know  them  ; '  he  calls  the  hea- 
then nations  '  children  of  wrath'  and  '  sinners  of  the  Gentiles ;  *  he 
speaks  of  the  '  old  man  as  heing  corrupt  according  to  the  deceitful 
lusts  ; '  —  in  short,  he  expresses,  under  a  variety  of  terms,^  the  asser- 
tion of  our  Saviour,  that  '  except  a  man  be  born  again,  of  water  and 
the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  *  (John  iii.  3). 

"  With  equal  clearness  he  intimates  that  the  Christians  he  ad- 
dresses were  thus  regenerate  :  as  having  ^  put  off  the  old  man  with  its 
deeds  ; '  and  having  become  the  '  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost*  and  '  the 
members  of  Christ;'  as  having  the  '  spiritual  circumcision.,  and  being 
buried  with  Christ  in  baptism,'  Rom.  vi.  3,  Col.  ii.  12;  as  having 
'  received  the  spirit  of  adoption'  Rom.  viii.  15  ;  and  as  '  being  washed, 
sanctified,  and  justified,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  by  the 
Spirit  of  our  God.'  To  the  Galatians,  '  bewitched,'  as  he  says  they 
were,  '  that  they  should  not  obey  the  truth,'  he  still  writes,  '  Ye  are 
the  children  of  God  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  For  as  many  of  you 
as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ,(Ga.\.  iii.  26). 
These  addresses  and  exhortations  are  founded  on  the  principle  that 
the  disciples,  by  their  dedication  to  God  in  baptism,  had  been  brought 
into  a  state  of  reconcilement  with  him,  —  had  been  admitted  to  privi- 
leges which  the  apostle  calls  on  them  to  improve.  On  the  authority 
of  this  example,  and  of  the  undeniable  practice  of  the  first  ages  of 
Christianity,  our  church  considers  baptism  as  conveying  regeneration, 
instructing  us  to  pray,  before  baptism,  that  the  infant '  may  be  born 
again,  and  made  an  heir  of  everlasting  salvation ; '  and  to  return 
thanks,  after  baptism,  'that  it  hath  pleased  God  to  regenerate  the 
infant  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  receive  him  for  his  own  child  by 
adoption.' 

"  But,  on  the  contrary,  if  there  is  a  distinction  between  special  and 
common  grace,  and  none  are  regenerate  but  those  who  receive  special 
grace,  and  those  only  receive  it  who  are  elect,  baptism  is  evidently 
no  sign  of  regeneration,  since  so  many  after  baptism  live  profane  and 
unholy  lives,  and  perish  in  their  sins.    Therefore,  the  preacher  of 

1  Eom.  ii.  6,  etc. 


ON  SELF-DENIAL.  345 

special  grace  must,  consistently  with  bis  own  principles,  lead  his 
hearers  to  look  for  some  new  conversion,  and  expect  some  sensible 
rejieneration.  This  brin<Ts  him  to  use  lanauajje  in  the  highest  decree 
perplexing  to  an  ordinary  hearer.  To  take  an  example  from  the 
same  writer,  whose  only  fault  is  the  Inconsistency  to  which  he  is 
reduced  by  his  attachment  to  the  system  of  election :  '  The  best  duties 
of  unregenerate  men  are  no  better  in  God's  account  and  acceptance, 
than  abomination.  There  Is  nothing  that  such  men  do,  In  the  whole 
course  of  their  lives,  but  at  the  last  day  it  will  be  found  In  God's 
register-book  among  the  catalogue  of  their  sins.  This  man  hath 
prayed  so  often,  and  heard  so  often,  made  so  many  prayers,  and 
heard  so  many  sermons,  and  done  many  good  works ;  but  yet,  all 
this  while  he  was  In  an  unconverted  state :  these,  therefore,  are  set 
down  In  God's  day-book  In  black ;  and  they  are  registered  among 
those  sins  that  he  must  give  an  account  for :  not  for  the  substance  of 
the  actions  themselves,  but  because  they  come  from  rotten  principles, 
that  defile  the  best  actions  which  he  can  perform.'^ 

"  Suppose  this  language  addressed  now,  as  It  was  originally,  to  a 
congregation  dedicated  to  Christ  In  baptism:  what  would  be  the 
feelings  of  a  plain  understanding,  or  a  timid  conscience,  unable  to 
unravel  the  windings  of  these  secret  things,  on  learning  that  the 
sinfulness  or  Innocency  of  actions  does  not  depend  upon  their  being 
permitted  or  forbidden  In  the  revealed  law,  but  on  the  doer  being 
in  a  regenerate  or  unregenerate  state  at  the  time  when  he  performs 
them '?  How  Is  this  fact  oi  regeneracy,  upon  which  no  less  than  eter- 
nity depends,  to  be  discovered  ?  The  apostle  enumerates  the  works 
of  the  flesh  and  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit ;  but  his  test  is  Insufiiclent, 
for  the  two  lists  are  here  mixed  and  confounded.  The  hearers  appeal 
to  the  church,  an  authorized  interpreter  of  Scripture.  The  church 
acquaints  them  that  they  were  themselves  regenerated,  and  made  the 
children  of  grace,  by  the  benefit  of  baptism;  while  the  preacher 
evidently  treats  them  as  If  It  were  possible  they  might  be  still  un- 
regenerate."—  Sumner's  Apostolical  Preaching. 

1  "  Hopkins  on  the  New  Birth.  Observe  the  difference  between  his  language 
and  our  judicious  reformers :  '  Since  actions  which  spring  not  of  faith  in  Christ 
are  not  done  as  God  hath  willed  and  commanded  them  to  be  done,  we  doubt 
not  hut  that  they  have  the  nature  qf  sin  ' "  (Art.  xiii.). 


346  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

Note  C  — Page  323. 

It  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  same  causes  may  have  operated 
in  favor  of  that  sect  also  which  rejects  the  sacraments  altogether. 
As  for  the  argument  which  I  have  known  put  forward,  with  apparent 
seriousness,  that  the  word  Sacrament  does  not  occur  in  Scripture, 
and  that,  therefore,  we  ought  not  to  have  any,  this  can  hardly  have 
had  any  real  influence  on  intelHgent  minds.  For,  one  might  cis  well 
urge,  that  since  the  word  "  virtue "  does  not  occur  in  our  Lord's 
discourses,  therefore  he  did  not  mean  his  followers  to  practise  virtue. 

But  at  the  time  when  that  sect  arose,  a  very  large  proportion  of 
Christian  ministers,  while  they  were  administering  to  infants  a  rite 
■which  they  spoke  of  as  a  sign  of  regeneration,  or  new-birth,  at  the 
same  time  taught  —  at  least,  were  understood  as  teaching  —  that 
there  is  no  intelligible  connection  whatever  between  the  sign  and  the 
thing  signified,  nor  any  real  benefit  attached  to  the  rite.  The  new 
birth  they  taught  their  people  to  hope  for  at  some  future  indefinite 
time.  And  they  taught  them  to  believe,  as  a  part  of  the  Christian 
revelation,  that,  of  infants  brought  to  baptism,  an  uncertain,  indefinite 
number  of  individuals  —  undistinguishdble  at  that  time  from  the  rest 
—  are,  by  the  divine  decree,  totally  and  finally  excluded  from  all 
share  in  the  benefits  of  Christ's  redemption. 

Now,  men  accustomed  to  see  and  hear  all  this,  would  be  not  un- 
likely to  listen  with  favor  to  those  who  declared  —  professedly  by 
divine  inspiration  —  that  "  water-baptism,"  as  they  call  it,  is  an  empty 
and  superstitious  ceremony,  originating  in  a  misapprehension  of  our 
Lord's  meaning ;  of  which  meaning  they  —  gifted  with  the  same 
inspiration  as  his  apostles  —  are  commissioned  to  be  interpreters. 

And  when  one  sacrament  thus  had  been  explained  a^vay,  the  re- 
jection of  the  other  also,  according  to  a  similar  kind  of  reasoning, 
would  follow  of  course. 

And,  after  all,  this  rejection  was  but  the  carrying  out  of  a  principle 
of  procedure  which  had  been  long  before  sanctioned  by  others.  It 
had  been  long  before  decided  that,  at  the  eucharist,  one  of  the  ap- 
pointed symbols  might  safely  be  omitted,  and  that  the  perfect  spiritual 
participation  by  the  communicants  in  the  benefit  of  the  sacrament  is 
not  thereby  at  all  impaired.  To  dispense  with  the  other  symbol 
also,  and  likewise  with  the  symbol  of  the  other  sacrament,  and  then 
to  call  this  a  spiritual  celebration  of  the  sacraments,  was  only  taking 
a  step  further  in  the  same  direction. 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  317 

In  truth,  the  abolition  of  the  sacraments,  by  explaining  away,  as 
figurative,  words  of  our  Lord  which  were  undoubtedly  understood  by 
his  hearers  at  the  time  literally  ;  or,  again,  the  literal  interpretation 
of  his  words,  "  this  is  my  body,"  which  must  have  been  understood  at 
the  time  figuratively  (lor  the  apostles  could  not  have  suppos^ed  that 
at  the  last  supper  he  was  holding  in  his  hands  his  own  literal  body)  ; 
or  the  addition  of  fresh  sacraments  not  instituted  by  him  or  his  apos- 
tles ;  or  a  departure  from  the  mode  he  appointed  of  celebrating  the 
eucharist,  by  the  withholding  of  the  cup,  —  all  these,  and  any  other 
similar  liberties  taken  with  Scripture,  stand  on  the  same  ground,  and 
are  equally  justifiable  or  equally  unjustifiable.  If  certain  individuals, 
or  councils,  or  other  bodies  of  men,  are  really  inspired  messengers 
from  heaven,  "moved  by  the  Spirit"  to  declare  with  infallible  cer- 
tainty the  will  of  the  Lord,  then  their  words  are  to  be  received  and 
obeyed  with  the  same  deference  as  those  of  Peter  or  Paul.  And 
if  they  announce  any  change  in  the  divine  dispensations,  or  give 
any  new  interpretation  of  any  part  of  Scripture,  we  are  bound  to 
acquiesce,  even  as  the  Jews  were  required  to  do  in  that  great  "  mys- 
tery of  the  gospel,"  the  opening  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  the 
Gentiles.  It  is  God  who  speaks  by  their  mouths ;  and  he  who  has 
established  any  ordinance  has  evidently  the  power  to  abrogate  or 
alter  it. 

And  when  persons  who  make  such  a  claim  (or  admit  it  in  their 
leaders)  profess  to  take  Scripture  for  their  guide,  they  must  be  un- 
derstood to  mean  that  it  is  their  guide  only  in  the  sense  attached  to 
it  by  the  persons  thus  divinely  commissioned,  and  in  those  points 
only  wherein  no  additional  or  different  revelation  has  been  made 
through  these  persons.  When  there  has,  the  later  revelation,  of 
course,  supersedes  the  earlier. 

Nor  does  it  make  any  real  difference  whether  something  be  added 
to  the  Bible,  claiming  equal  divine  authority,  or  whether  merely  an 
alleged  infallible  interpretation  be  given  of  what  is  already  written. 
For  an  interpretation  coming  from  any  church  or  person  divinely 
commissioned,  and  speaking  "  as  the  Spirit  moveth,"  is  of  the  same 
authority  with  Scripture  itself,  and  must  be  implicitly  received,  how- 
ever at  variance  with  the  sense  which  any  ordinary  reader  would, 
of  himself,  attach  to  the  words.  And  those  who  completely  surren- 
der their  own  judgment  to  any  supposed  Infallible  interpreter  are, 
in  fact,  taking  hun  —  not  Scripture  —  for  their  guide. 

"  It  is  most  important,  when  the  expression  is  used  of  '  referring 


348  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

to  Scripture  as  the  infallible  standard,'  and  requiring  assent  to  sucli 
points  of  faith  only  as  can  be  thence  proved,  to  settle  clearly,  in  the 
outset,  the  important  question,  '  proved  to  vjhom  f '  If  any  man  or 
body  of  men  refer  us  to  Scripture  as  the  sole  authoritative  standard, 
meaning  that  we  are  not  to  be  called  on  to  believe  anything  as  a 
necessary  point  of  faith,  on  their  word,  but  only  on  our  own  convic- 
tion that  it  is  scriptural,  then  they  place  our  faith  on  the  basis,  not 
of  human  authority,  but  of  divine.  But  if  they  call  on  us,  as  a  point 
of  conscience,  to  receive  whatever  is  proved  to  their  satisfaction  from 
Scripture,  even  though  it  may  appear  to  us  unscriptural,  then,  instead 
of  releasing  us  from  the  usurped  authority  of  man  taking  the  place 
of  God,  they  are  placing  on  us  two  burdens  instead  of  one.  '  You 
require  us,'  we  might  reply,  '  to  believe,  first,  that  whatever  you 
teach  is  true ;  and,  secondly,  besides  this,  to  believe  also  that  it  is  a 
truth  contained  in  Scripture;  and  we  are  to  take  your  word  for 
both!'"^ 

When,  therefore,  any  such  claim  is  set  up,  we  are  authorized  and 
bound  to  require  "  the  signs  of  an  apostle."  Professed  ambassadors 
from  heaven  should  be  called  on  to  show  their  credentials^ — the  mi- 
raculous powers  which  alone  can  prove  their  inspiration,  —  on  pain 
of  being  convicted  of  profane  presumption  in  daring  to  "  say,  thus 
saith  the  Lord,  when  the  Lord  hath  not  spoken." 

Hence,  there  are  probably  many  intelligent  persons  who  do  not 
really  believe  in  the  existence,  in  the  present  day,  of  inspiration, 
properly  so  called,  though  they  continue  to  employ  a  language, 
derived  from  their  predecessors,  which  implies  it.  I  have  adverted 
to  this  case  in  another  work,  from  which  I  will  take  the  liberty  of 
extracting  a  passage : 

"It  is  well  known  that  there  are  sects  and  other  parties  of 
Christians,  of  whose  system  it  forms  a  part,  to  believe  in  immediate, 
sensible  inspiration,  —  that  the  preachers  are  directly  and  perceptibly 
moved  to  speak  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  utter  what  he  suggests. 
Now  suppose  any  one,  brought  up  in  these  principles,  and  originally 
perhaps  a  sincere  believer  in  his  own  inspiration,  becoming  after- 
wards so  far  sobered  as  to  perceive,  or  strongly  suspect,  their  delu- 
siveness, and  so  to  modify  at  least  his  views  of  the  subject  as  in  fact 
to  nullify  all  the  pecidiarity  of  the  doctrine,  which  yet  many  of  his 
hearers,  he  knows,  hold  in  its  full  extent ;  must  he  not  be  strongly 

on  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  pp.  211, 212. 


02^  INFANT-BAPTISM.  349 

tempted  to  keep  up  what  will  probably  seem  to  him  so  salutary  a 
delusion  ?  Such  a  case  as  this  I  cannot  think  to  be  even  of  rare 
occurrence.  For,  a  man  of  sound  judgment,  and  of  a  reflective  turn, 
must,  one  would  think,  have  it  forced  on  his  attention,  that  he  speaks 
better  after  long  practice  than  when  a  novice,  —  better  on  a  subject 
he  has  been  used  to  preach  on  than  on  a  comparatively  new  one,  — 
and  better  with  premeditation  than  on  a  sudden ;  and  all  this,  as  is 
plain  both  from  the  nature  of  the  case  and  from  Scripture,  is  incon- 
sistent with  inspiration.  Practice  and  study  cannot  improve  the 
immediate  suggestions  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  apostles  were  on 
that  ground  expressly  forbidden  to  '  take  thought  beforehand  what 
they  should  say,  or  to  premeditate ;  because  it  should  be  given  them 
in  the  same  hour  what  they  should  say.'  Again,  he  will  perhaps  see 
cause  to  alter  his  views  of  some  passages  of  Scripture  he  may  have 
referred  to,  or  in  other  points  to  modify  some  of  the  opinions  he  may 
have  expressed  ;  and  this,  again,  is  inconsistent  with  the  idea  of  inspi- 
ration, at  least  on  both  occasions. 

"  Yet  with  these  views  of  his  own  preaching,  as  not  really  and 
properly  inspired  and  infallible,  he  is  convinced  that  he  is  inculcating 
the  great  and  important  truths  of  Christianity, — that  he  is  conse- 
quently, in  a  certain  sense,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
from  whom  all  good  things  must  proceed,  —  and  that  his  preaching  is 
of  great  benefit  to  his  hearers ;  who  yet  would  cease  to  attend  to  it 
were  he  distinctly  to  declare  to  them  his  own  real  sentiments.  In 
such  a  case  he  must  be  very  strongly  tempted  to  commit  the  pious 
fraud  of  conniving  at  a  belief  which  he  does  not  himself  sincerely 
hold ;  consoling  perhaps  his  conscience  with  the  reflection,  that  when 
he  professes  to  be  moved  by  the  Spirit,  he  says  what  he  is  convinced 
is  true,  though  not  true  in  the  sense  in  which  most  of  his  hearers 
understand  it,  —  not  true  in  the  sense  which  constitutes  that  very 
peculiarity  of  doctrine  wherein  perhaps  originated  the  separation  of 
his  sect  or  party  from  other  Christians."  ^ 

It  is  probable,  however,  that  many  persons  deceive  both  others 
and  themselves  by  confusing  together  in  their  minds  differences  of 
degree  and  differences  of  amount;^  and  thence  imagining  (what  a 

1  Errors  of  Romanism,  pp.  87,  88. 

2  The  imperfection  of  modern  languages  conduces  much  to  this  confusion.  In 
Greek,  more  and  less  in  quantity  are  expressed  by  irX^iov  (or  ixn^ov)  and 
tKoTTOV ;  more  or  less  in  degree  by  fiaWov  and  TjTToy.    To  a  beginner,  Aris- 

30 


350  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

little  calm  reflection  must  show  to  be  impossible,  and  indeed  un- 
intelligible) that  there  may  be  difTerent  degrees  of  what  is  properly 
and  strictly  termed  inspiration  ;  that  is,  the  miraculous  influence 
under  which  we  conceive  anything  that  we  call  an  inspired  work  to 
have  been  written.  The  existence  or  non-existence  of  this  inspira- 
tion is  a  question  of  fact ;  and  though  there  may  be  different  degrees 
of  evidence  for  the  existence  of  a  fact,  it  is  plain  that  one  fact  cannot 
be,  itself,  more  or  less  a  fact  than  another. 

Inspiration  may  extend  either  to  the  very  words  uttered,  or  merely 
to  the  subject-matter  of  them,  or  merely  to  a  certain  portion  of  the 
matter,  —  to  all,  for  instance,  that  pertains  to  religious  truth,  so  as 
to  afford  a  complete  exemption  from  doctrinal  error;  though  not 
to  matters  of  geography,  natural  philosophy,  etc.  But  in  every 
case  we  understand  that  to  whatever  points  the  inspiration  does 
extend,  in  these  it  secures  infallibility/ ;  and  infallibility  manifestly 
cannot  admit  of  degrees. 

When  v/e  are  speaking  of  the  instructive,  the  eloquent,  the  enter- 
taining, etc.,  we  may  call  one  discourse  tolerably  well-written,  another 
rather  better  written,  and  a  third  better  still.  Each  of  tliem  is  what 
it  is,  in  a  different  degree  from  the  others.  But  we  could  not  with 
propriety  speak  of  one  discourse  as  being  "  somewhat  inspired," 
another,  as  "  rather  more  inspired,"  and  again,  another,  as  "  a  good 
deal  inspired." 

If  any  one  is  distinctly  commissioned  to  deliver  a  message  from 
heaven,  in  any  one  instance,  with  infallible  proof,  to  himself  and  to 
others,  that  it  is  such,  he  is  as  truly  inspired,  and  his  revelation  as 
much  a  revelation,  as  if  he  had  had  revealed  to  him  a  hundred  times 
a  greater  quantiiy  of  superhuman  knowledge.   That  one  message  is 

totle's  remark,  that  though  the  category  of  Troioj/  ("  of  what  quality  ")  admits  of 
degrees,  that  of  iroffov  (;'■  how  much  ")  does  not,  is  apt  to  appear  paradoxical. 
In  quantity  five  is  less  —  a  smaller  number  —  than  ten ;  but  it  is  what  it  is  —  five 
—  as  much  as  the  other  is  what  it  is  —  ten.  On  the  other  hand,  a  beautiful  ob- 
ject, for  instance,  maybe  more  beautiful  than  another;  each  of  them  being  what 
it  is  in  a  difierent  degree  {ixaWov  or  i]ttov)  than  the  other.  So  also  the  quality 
of  being  rich  admits  of  degrees.  One  man  is  richer  than  another  rich  man,  if  he 
possesses  more  in  quantity  of  money  than  the  other ;  but  the  money  itself  does 
not  admit  of  degrees;  since  a  penny  is  no  less  a  penny  than  a  pound  is  a  pound. 
The  Greeks  would  say,  with  that  distinctness  which  their  language  enabled 
them  to  attain  with  ease,  that  ro  irKovreiu  admits  of  degrees  (/uoAAo;/  or  nrjou), 
but  that  irKovTos  does  not. 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  351 

as  much  God's  word  as  any  part  of  Scripture.  Even  so  Paul,  who 
"  spoke  with  tongues  more  than  all "  the  disciples  he  was  addressing/ 
had  not  more  that  miraculous  gift  (though  he  had  the  gift  of  more 
tongues)  than  any  one  of  them  who  had  been  supernaturally  taught 
a  single  foreign  language. 

If  a  man  has  ascertained,  and  can  prove,  that  he  has  had,  either 
in  words  or  merely  in  substance,  a  revelation  of  some  doctrine,  or, 
again,  an  infallible  divine  assurance  of  safety  from  religious  errors, 
he  is  to  be  listened  to  —  in  reference  to  those  points  to  icliich  the  in- 
spiration extends —  as  speaking  with  divine  authority.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  he  has  no  infallible  proofs  to  give  of  having  received 
a  divine  communication,  then,  though  most  or  all  of  what  he  says 
may  be,  in  fact,  perfectly  true,  he  has  no  right  to  use  such  an  ex- 
pression as  "  the  Spirit  moveth  me  to  say  so  and  so."  He  ought 
rather  to  say,  —  what  a  pious  and  humble  preacher  must  mean,  —  I 
hope  and  trust  that  what  I  am  setting  forth  is  sound  and  useful 
doctrine  :  and  so  far  as  it  is  so,  it  must  be  the  gift  of  Him  "  from 
whom  all  good  things  do  proceed ; "  but  how  far  it  is  so,  both  you 
and  I  must  judge  as  well  as  we  can,  by  a  careful  reference  to  Holy 
Scripture,  with  a  full  consciousness  of  our  own  fallibility. 


Note  D  —  Page  330. 

"  Concerning  several  points  of  this  class,  —  such  as  the  validity  of 
lay-baptism,  or  of  baptism  by  heretics  or  schismatics,  etc., — questions 
have  been  often  raised  which  have  been  involved  in  much  unneces- 
sary perplexity,  from  its  being  common  to  mix  up  together  what  are 
in  fact  several  distinct  questions,  though  relating  to  the  same  subject. 
For  instance,  in  respect  of  the  validity  of  lay-baptism,  three  impor- 
tant and  perfectly  distinct  questions  may  be  raised;  no  one  of  which 
is  answered  by  the  answering  either  way  of  the  others ;  namely, 
1.  What  has  a  church  the  right  to  determine  as  to  this  point?  2. 
What  is  the  wisest  and  best  determination  It  can  make  ?  3.  What 
has  this  or  that  particular  church  actually  determined  ?  Now  persons 
who  are  agreed  concerning  the  answer  to  one  of  these  questions, 

1 1  Cor.  xiv.  18. 


352  WHATELY'S  ESSxVYS. 

may  yet  differ  concerning  the  others;  and  vice  versa." "^  —  Kingdom 
of  Clirist,  Essay  //.  §  39,  pp.  282,  283. 

With  respect  to  the  first  question,  in  reference  to  lay-baptism,  it 
is  plain  that,  according  to  the  above  principles,  a  church  has  a  right 
to  admit  or  to  refuse  to  admit  members.  This  right  it  possesses  as 
a  society.  As  a  Christian  society,  sanctioned  by  our  heavenly  Mas- 
ter, it  has  a  right  to  administer  his  sacraments ;  and  it  has  a  right  to 
decide  who  shall  or  who  shall  not  exercise  certain  functions,  and 
under  what  circumstances.  K  it  permit  laymen  (that  is,  those  who 
are  excluded  from  other  spiritual  functions)  to  baptize,  it  does,  by 
that  permission,  constitute  them  its  functionaries,  in  respect  of  that 
particular  point.  And  this  it  has  a  right  to  do,  or  to  refuse  to  do. 
If  a  church  refuse  to  recognize  as  valid  any  baptism  not  administered 
by  such  and  such  officers,  then  the  pretended  administration  of  it 
by  any  one  else  is  of  course  null  and  void,  as  wanting  that  sanction 
of  a  Christian  church  which  alone  can  confer  validity. 

With  respect  to  the  second  question,  it  does  appear  to  me  ex- 
tremely unadvisable,  derogatory  to  the  dignity  of  the  ordinance, 
and  tending  both  to  superstition  and  to  profaneness,  that  the  admis- 
sion, through  a  divinely-instituted  rite,  of  members  into  the  society, 
should  be  in  any  case  intrusted  to  persons  not  expressly  chosen  and 
solemnly  appointed  to  any  office  in  that  society. 

Nearly  similar  reasoning  will  apply,  I  think,  to  the  case  of  ordi- 
nations. What  appears  to  me  the  wisest  course,  would  be  that  each 
church  should  require  a  distinct  appointment  ly  thai  church  itself, 
to  any  ministerial  office  to  be  exercised  therein  ;  whether  the  person 
so  appointed  had  been  formerly  ordained  or  not  to  any  such  office 
in  another  church.  But  the  form  of  this  appointment  need  not  be 
such  as  to  cast  any  stigma  on  a  former  ordination,  by  implying 
that  the  person  in  question  had  not  been  a  real  and  regular  minister 
of  another  distinct  society.  For  any  church  has  a  fair  right  to  demand 
that  (unless  reason  be  shown  to  the  contrary)  its  acts  should  be 
regarded  as  valid  within  the  pale  of  that  church  itself;  but  no  church 
can  reasonably  claim  a  right  to  ordain  ministers  for  another  church. 

As  for  the  remaining  question.  What  is  the  actual  determination 
as  to  this  point  ?  this  is  of  course  a  distinct  question  in  reference  to 
each  church. 

1  See  Appendix,  Kote  O.  Hooker,  in  his  5th  Book,  maintains  at  great  length 
the  validity  of  baptism  by  laymen  and  women. 


ON  IXFANT-BAPTISM.  353 

On  tLIs  point  it  is  only  necessary  to  remark  how  iir.portant  it  is, 
with  a  view  to  good  order  and  peace,  that  some  determination  should 
be  made,  and  should  be  clearly  set  forth,  by  any  church,  as  to  this 
and  other  like  practical  questions ;  and  that  they  should  not  be  left 
in  such  a  state  of  uncertainty  as  to  furnish  occasion  for  disputes 
and  scruples.^  Many  points  of  doctrine,  indeed,  that  may  fairly  be 
regarded  as  non-essential,  it  may  be  both  allowable  and  wise  for  a 
church  to  leave  at  large,  and  pronounce  no  decision  on  them ;  allow- 
ing each  minister,  if  he  thinks  fit,  to  put  forth  his  own  exposition  as 
the  result  of  his  own  judgment,  and  not  as  a  decision  of  the  church. 
But  it  is  not  so  in  matters  even  intrinsically  indifferent,  where 
church  discipline  is  concerned.  A  minister  ought  to  be  as  seldom 
as  possible  left  in  the  predicament  of  not  knowing  mliat  lie  ovgJit  to  do 
in  a  case  that  comes  before  him.  And  though  it  is  too  much  to 
expect  from  a  church  composed  of  fallible  men  that  its  decisions  on 
every  point  should  be  such  as  to  obtain  universal  approbation  as  the 
very  best,  it  is  but  fair  to  require  that  It  should  at  least  give  decisions, 
according  to  the  best  jmlgment  of  its  legislators,  on  points  Avhich,  in 
each  particular  case  that  arises,  must  be  decided  in  one  way  or 
another. 

That  so  many  points  of  this  character  should  in  our  own  church 
be  left  in  a  doubtful  state,  is  one  out  of  the  many  evils  resulting  from 
the  want  of  a  legislative  government  for  the  church ;  which  for  more 
than  a  century  has  had  none,^  except  the  civil  legislature ;  a  body 
as  unwilling,  as  it  Is  unfitted,  to  exercise  any  such  functions.  Such 
certainly  was  not  the  state  of  things  designed  or  contemplated  by 
our  reformers;  and  I  cannot  well  understand  the  consistency  of 
those  who  are  perpetually  eulogizing  the  Reformers,  their  principles 
and  proceedings,  and  yet  so  completely  run  counter  to  them  in  a 
most  fundamental  point,  as  to  endeavor  to  prevent,  or  not  endeavor 
to  promote,  that  establishment  of  a  church  government ;  which  no 
one  can  doubt  tlieij  at  least  regarded  as  a  thing  essential  to  the  well- 
being,  "if  not  to  the  permanent  existence,  of  a  church."^ — Kingdom 
of  Christ,  App.  (O),  pp.  340-342. 

1  See  Appeal  on  behalf  of  cliurch  government  reprinted  in  Bishop  Dickinson's 
Eemains. 

2  See  Case  of  Occasional  Days  and  Prayers,  by  John  Johnson,  A.  M.,  Vicar 
of  Cranbrook,  in  the  Diocese  of  Canterbury. 

3  See  speech  on  presenting  a  petition  from  the  Diocese  of  Kildare,  with  Ap- 
pendix, reprinted  in  a  volume  of  Charges  and  other  Tracts. 

30* 


354  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

In  reference  to  this  subject,  I  insert  an  extract  from  a  letter  from 
a  very  intelligent  and  well-informed  pastor  in  France,  relative  to 
the  decisions  and  practices  of  the  Church  of  Home. 

I  have  only  to  add  the  remark,  that  if  it  had  been  definitely  pro- 
nounced that  baptism  by  heretics  is  totally  invalid,  the  Church  of 
Rome  could  have  claimed  no  power  over  them  (any  more  than  over 
Pagans  or  Mussulmans)  as  members,  though  rebellious  members,  of 
that  church  (see  Note  A  of  this  Appendix)  : 

"  Les  theologiens  du  concile  de  Trente,  qui  avaient  etudie  Aristote 
que  I'evangile,  signalerent  7  canaux  de  la  grace  divine ;  ce  sont  les  plus 
sacraments.  Sur  les  7,  6  sont  conferes  exclusivement  par  les  pretres. 
Un  seul,  le  hapteme,  pent  I'etre  par  un  main  laique  ;  mais  dans  le  cas 
de  necessite.  Deplus,  le  bapteme  est  administre  aloj's  avec  de  I'eau 
hcnite  par  les  pretres.  Chez  nous  la  sage  femme  qui  prevoit  un 
accouchement  laborieux,  est  obligee,  par  son  serment,  de  porter  avec 
elle  de  I'eau  henile.  A  peine  I'enfant  est  il  venu  au  jour  qu'elle  Vondoie 
avec  cette  eau  consacree,  et  meme  si  elle  pense  que  I'enfant  mourra 
avant  de  sortir  du  sein  de  la  mere,  elle  introduit  Veau  henite;  voila 
ce  qu'une  sage  femme  me  racontait  I'autre  jour.  D'ou  je  conclus 
qu'en  definitive,  tout  remonte  au  pre'.re  Roma'in. 

"  Quant  a  la  validite  du  bapteme  des  heretiques,  c'est  une  anomalie 
curieuse  dans  Teglise  Romaine.  Les  theologiens  du  concile  se  par- 
tagerent  sur  la  question  de  savoir  si  la  grace  du  bapteme  procede  ex 
opere  operato  ou  ex  opere  operantis.  Les  cardinaux  diplomates  du 
concile,  se  rappelant  qu'un  pape  avait  decide  la  validite'  du  bapteme 
celebre  par  les  heretiques,  et  ne  voulant  pas  couvenir  qu'un  pape 
s'etait  trompe,  laisserent  la  question  indecise,  et  firent  decreter  que 
les  enfans  des  heretiques  ne  seraient  pas  rebaptises,  pourvu  que  le 
bapteme  fut  fait  suivant  la  formule  consacree^  et  les  intentions  de 
VEglise.  Alors,  se  fondant  sur  cette  restriction,  nos  pretres  Fran- 
cais  rebaptisent  tourjours  ceux  qu'ils  convertissent  a  leur  religion." 


Note  E  — Page  33L 

The  solicitude  of  our  reformers  on  this  point  is  manifested  in 
their  requiring  sponsors  over  and  above  the  parents  (if  any)  for 
an  infant  brought  to  baptism ;  and  that  the  sponsors  should  be  of 
mature  age,  and  communicants.  (See  Canons.)  They  permitted* 
indeed,  that,  in  cases  of  necessity,  the  rite  should  be  administered 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  355 

without  sponsors  ;  but  no  candid  person  can  doubt  that  they  always 
contemplated  the  application  for  baptism  being  made  by  some  one 
who  should  be  understood  as  engaging  lor  the  Christian  education  of 
the  child. 

I  am  aware  that  it  is  often  difficult,  and  sometimes  impossible,  to 
enforce  rigidly  the  directions  of  our  church  respecting  sponsors ; 
but  ministers  are  bound  to  do  their  best  towards  complying  with 
those  directions,  and  in  every  way  to  guard  against  the  thoughtless 
carelessness  and  the  irregularities  which  are  so  apt  to  find  their  way 
into  the  administration  of  this  holy  ordinance.  One  may  too  often 
see  evinced,  in  the  way  in  which,  by  many,  the  one  sacrament  is 
blindly  shunned,  and  the  other  as  blindly  sought,  a  similar  super- 
stition and  ignorance. 

How  much  of  ignorance  and  misconception,  and  of  consequent 
superstition  and  profaneness,  prevails  on  this  subject,  you  must  be 
but  too  well  aware.  One  instance  would  alone  suffice  to  show  this,  — 
the  shocking  profanation  so  often  exhibited,  —  the  "  christening"  as 
it  is  called,  of  a  newly-built  ship  ;  a  ceremony  commonly  attended 
and  sanctioned  by  (so  called)  educated  persons ;  who  would  not,  it 
must  be  hoped,  but  through  gross  ignorance  and  thoughtlessness, 
take  a  part  in  a  solemn  mockery  of  one  of  Christ's  sacraments. 

In  reference  to  another  point  connected  with  the  same  subject,  I 
subjoin  an  extract  from  an  address  to  the  clergy  of  the  diocese, 
written  in  1846  : 

"  Some  cases  of  irregularity  having  come  under  my  notice,  origi- 
nating, I  have  no  doubt,  in  inadvertence,  it  seems  to  me  not  improb- 
able that  other  instances  also,  of  a  like  inadvertence,  may  have 
occurred,  that  have  not  come  to  my  knowledge. 

"  I  have  accordingly  judged  It  best  not  to  delay  noticing  this  mat- 
ter till  the  visitation,  but  to  bring  it  before  you  at  once,  and  in  a 
general  way  ;  as  I  would  always  rather  prevent  than  censure  any 
irregularity. 

"  I  find  that  in  some  instances  a  practice  has  grown  up  of  baptiz- 
ing in  private  houses,  administering  the  rite  according  to  the  order 
for  public  baptism  ;  and  accordingly  many  of  the  infants  thus  bap- 
tized are,  I  apprehend,  never  publicly  presented  at  all  to  be  received 
into  the  congregation  in  the  parish  church.  And  this  has  been 
done,  I  have  reason  to  fear,  even  in  some  cases  in  which  the  Rubric 
does  not  contemplate  any  private  baptism  at  all ;  merely  in  compli- 
ance with  the  fancy  of  the  parents  to  convert  into  a  mere  domestic 


356  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

ceremony  what  ought  to  be  treated  as  a  church  sacrament.  If  such 
a  misapprehension  be  blaraable  in  any  lay-member  of  the  church, 
the  encouragement  of  it  must  be  much  more  censurable  in  a  minis- 
ter, whose  business  is  to  instruct  those  committed  to  his  charge,  and 
to  correct  any  errors  they  may  fall  into. 

"  If  you  will  put  before  your  people  the  directions  contained  in 
the  Prayer  Book,  they  will  readily  understand  that  you  are  bound 
never  to  administer  baptism  at  all  in  a  private  house,  except  in  a 
bona  fide  and  duly  certified  case  of  pressing  danger ;  and  that  when 
such  a  case  does  occur,  you  are  bound  to  proceed  according  to  the 
directions  so  precisely  and  plainly  given  in  the  Rubric. 

"  Other  disadvantages  likely  to  result  from  irregularity  in  this 
matter,  such  as  the  danger  of  a  total  omission  of  registration,  I  do 
not  advert  to  at  present,  because  it  is  sufficient  to  have  pointed  out 
what  is,  independently  of  all  such  considerations,  the  clear  duty 
of  a  minister  of  our  church." 


Note  F  —  Page  332. 

"  I  would  wish,"  remarks  Bp.  Ryder,  "  generally  to  restrict  the 
term  [regeneration]  to  the  baptismal  privileges  ;  and  considering 
them  as  comprehending  not  only  an  external  admission  into  the 
visible  church,  not  only  a  covenanted  title  to  the  pardon  and  grace 
of  the  gospel,  but  even  a  degree  of  spiritual  aid  vouchsafed,  and 
ready  to  offer  itself  to  our  acceptance  or  rejection  at  the  dawn  of 
reason.  I  would  recommend  a  reference  to  these  privileges  in  our 
discourses,  as  talents  which  the  hearer  should  have  so  improved  as 
to  bear  interest ;  as  seed  which  should  have  sprung  up  and  produced 
fruit. 

"  But  at  the  same  time  I  would  solemnly  protest  against  that  most 
serious  error  (which  has  arisen  probably  from  exalting  too  highly 
the  just  view  of  baptismal  regeneration)  of  contemplating  all  the 
members  of  a  baptized  congregation  as  converted,  —  as  having,  all, 
once  known  the  truth,  and  entered  upon  the  right  path,  though 
some  may  have  wandered  from  it,  and  others  may  have  made  little 
progress,  —  as  not  therefore  requiring  (what  all  by  nature,  and  most 
it  is  to  be  feared  through  defective  principle  and  practice  require) 
that '  transformation  by  the  renewing  of  the  mind  ; '  that '  putting 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  357 

off  the  old  man  and  putting  on  the  new  man/  which  is  so  emphat- 
ically enjoined  by  St.  Paul  to  his  baptized  Romans  and  Ephesians.'* 
—  Extract  from  Bishop  Ryder's  (of  Lichfield)  Primary  Charge  to  his 
Clergij. 

"  In  the  baptismal  service,"  says  the  late  Mr.  Simeon,  "  we  thank 
God  for  having  regenerated  the  baptized  infant  by  his  Holy  Spirit, 
Now  from  hence  it  appears  that,  in  the  opinion  of  our  reformers^  re- 
generation and  remission  of  sins  did  accompany  baptism.  But  in 
what  sense  did  they  hold  this  sentiment  ?  Did  they  maintain  that 
there  was  no  need  for  the  seed  then  sown  in  the  heart  of  the  bap- 
tized person  to  grow  up  and  to  bring  forth  fruit  ?  or  that  he  could  be 
saved  in  any  other  way  than  by  a  progressive  renovation  of  his  soul 
after  the  divine  image  ?  Had  they  asserted  any  such  doctrine  as 
that,  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  any  enlightened  person  to 
concur  with  them.  But  nothing  can  be  conceived  more  repugnant 
to  their  sentiments  than  such  an  idea  as  this.  So  far  from  harboring 
such  a  thought,  they  have,  and  that  too  in  this  very  prayer,  taught  us 
to  look  to  God  for  that  total  change  both  of  heart  and  life  which,  long 
since  their  days,  has  begun  to  be  expressed  by  the  term  regeneration. 
After  thanking  God  for  regenerating  the  infant  by  his  Holy  Spirit,vre  are 
taught  to  pray  '  that  he  being  dead  unto  sin,  and  living  unto  righteous- 
ness, may  crucify  the  old  man,  and  utterly  abolish  the  whole  body  of 
sin  ; '  and  then  declaring  the  total  change  to  be  the  necessary  mean 
of  his  obtaining  salvation,  we  add,  '  so  that  finally,  with  the  residue 
of  thy  holy  church,  he  may  be  an  inheritor  of  thine  everlasting 
kingdom.'  Is  there,  I  would  ask,  any  person  that  can  require  more 
than  this  ?  or  does  God  in  his  word  require  more  ?  There  are 
two  things  to  be  noticed  in  reference  to  this  subject,  —  the  term  '  re- 
generation '  and  the  thing.  The  term  occurs  but  twice  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, —  in  one  place  it  refers  to  baptism,  and  is  distinguished  from 
the  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which,  however,  is  represented  as  at- 
tendant on  it ;  and  in  the  other  place  it  has  a  totally  distinct  meaning, 
unconnected  with  the  subject.  Now  the  term  they  use  as  the  Scrip- 
ture uses  it,  and  the  thing  they  require  as  strongly  as  any  person  can 
require  it.  They  do  not  give  us  any  reason  to  imagine  that  an  adult 
person  can  be  saved  without  experiencing  all  that  modern  divines 
{Ultra  Protestant  divines)  have  included  in  the  term  '  regeneration : ' 
on  the  contrary,  they  do  both  there  and  in  the  liturgy  insist  upon  a 
radical  change  of  both  heart  and  life.  Here,  then,  the  only  question 
is,  not '  whether  a  baptized  person  can  be  saved  by  that  ordinance 


358  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

without  sanctification,'  but  whether  God  does  always  accompany  the 
sign  with  the  thing  signified.  Here  is  certainly  room  for  difference 
of  opinion,  hut  it  cannot  he  positively/  decided  in  the  negative,  because 
we  cannot  know,  or  even  judge,  respecting  it  in  any  case  whatever, 
except  by  the  fruits  that  follow ;  and,  therefore,  in  all  fairness,  it 
may  be  considered  only  as  a  doubtful  point ;  and  if  he  appeal,  as  he 
ought  to  do,  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  they  certainly  do  in  a  very  re- 
markahle  way  accord  with  the  expressions  in  our  liturgy.  St.  Paul 
says,  '  By  one  Spirit  we  are  all  baptized  into  one  body,  whether  we 
be  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether  we  bond  or  free,  and  have  been  all 
made  to  drink  into  one  Spirit.'  And  this  he  says  of  all  the  visible 
members  of  Christ's  body  (1  Cor.  xii.  13,  27).  Again,  speaking  of 
the  whole  nation  of  Israel,  infants  as  well  as  adults,  he  says,  '  They 
were  all  baptized  under  Moses  in  the  cloud  and  in  the  sea,  and  did 
all  eat  the  same  spiritual  meat,  and  did  all  drink  the  same  spiritual 
drink  ;  for  they  drank  of  that  spiritual  rock  that  followed  them,  and 
that  rock  was  Christ'  (1  Cor.  x.  1,4).  Yet,  behold,  in  the  very 
next  verse  he  tells  us  that,  '  with  many  of  them  God  was  displeased, 
and  overthrew  them  in  the  wilderness.'  In  another  place  he  speaks 
yet  more  strongly  stiU : '  As  many  of  you,'  says  he,  '  as  are  baptized 
into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ.'  Here  we  see  what  is  meant  by  the 
expression, '  baptized  into  Christ ; '  it  is  precisely  the  same  expression 
as  that  before  mentioned  of  the  Israelites  being  '  baptized  unto 
Moses ; '  the  preposition,  ets,  is  used  in  both  places ;  it  includes  all 
that  had  been  initiated  into  his  religion  by  the  rite  of  baptism ; 
and  of  them,  universally,  does  the  apostle  say,  '  They  have  put  on 
Christ.'  Now,  I  ask,  have  not  the  persons  who  scruple  the  use  of 
that  prayer  in  the  baptismal  service  equal  reason  to  scruple  the  use 
of  these  different  expressions  ? 

"  Again,  St.  Peter  says,  '  Repent  and  be  baptized  every  one  of 
you  for  the  remission  of  sins '  (Acts  ii.  38,  39).  And  in  another  place, 
'  Baptism  doth  now  save  us '  (1  Pet.  iii.  21).  And  speaking  else- 
where of  baptized  persons  who  were  unfruitful  in  the  knowledge  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  he  says,  '  He  hath  forgotten  that  he  was  purged 
from  his  old  sins'  (2  Pet.  i.  9).  Does  not  this  very  strongly  counte- 
nance the  IDEA  WHICH  OUR  REFORMERS  ENTERTAINED,  THAT  THE 
REMISSION  OF  OUR  SINS,  AND  THE  REGENERATION  OF  OUR  SOULS, 
IS     ATTENDANT    ON   THE    BAPTISMAL   RITE  ?      Perhaps   it  wiU  bs 

said  that  the  inspired  writers  spake  of  persons  who  had  been  bap- 
tized at  an  adult  age.     But  if  they  did  so  in  some  places,  they  cer- 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  359 

tainly  did  not  In  others;  and  where  they  did  not,  they  must  be 
understood  as  comprehending  all,  whether  infants  or  adults ;  and 
therefore  the  language  of  our  liturgy,  which  is  not  a  whit  stronger 
than  theirs,  may  be  both  subscribed  and  used  without  any  just  occa- 
sion of  offence. 

"  Let  me  then  speak  the  truth  before  God :  though  I  am  no  Ar- 
minian,  /  do  think  the  refinements  of  Calvin  have  done  great  harm  in 
the  church ;  they  have  driven  multitudes  from  the  plain  and  popular 
waij  of  speaking  used  hy  the  inspired  writers,  and  have  made  them 
unreasonably  and  unscripturally  squeamish  in  their  modes  of  ex- 
pression ;  and  I  conceive  that  the  less  addicted  any  person  is  to 
systematic  accuracy,  the  more  he  will  accord  with  the  inspired 
writers,  and  the  more  he  will  approve  the  views  of  our  reformers. 
I  do  not  mean,  however,  to  say  that  a  slight  alteration  in  two  or 
three  instances  would  not  be  an  improvement,  since  it  would  take 
off  a  burthen  from  many  minds,  and  supersede  the  necessity  of  labored 
explanations ;  but  I  do  mean  to  say  that  there  is  no  such  objection 
to  these  expressions  as  to  deter  any  conscientious  person  from  giving 
his  unfeigned  assent  and  consent  to  the  liturgy  altogether,  or  from 
using  the  particular  expressions  which  we  have  been  endeavoring  to 
explain." —  Simeon's  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  259. 

"  In  the  case  of  infant-baptism,"  says  Archbishop  Sumner,  "  there 
are  evidently  no  similar  means  of  ascertaining  the  actual  disposition. 
The  benefit  received  is  strictly  gratuitous,  or  '  of  free  grace.'  It  is 
promised,  however,  to  faith  and  obedience,  presupposed  in  the  re- 
cipient and  pledged  in  his  name  by  the  sponsors  :  whence  it  follows 
that  the  blessing  attached  to  the  sacrament  must  fail,  if  the  condi- 
tions fall  in  those  who  are  capable  of  performing  them ;  and  that 
the  faith  and  obedience  must  become  actual  and  personal  in  those 
who  arrive  at  mature  age.  It  has  not  altered  the  nature  of  Chris- 
tianity, that  its  external  privileges  are  become  national.  Whoever, 
therefore,  professes  the  hope  of  the  gospel,  must  individually  em- 
brace the  doctrine  of  the  gospel,  must  consent  as  sincerely  as  the 
earliest  converts,  to  refer  whatever  he  does  in  word  or  deed  to  the 
glory  of  God,  —  with  the  primitive  humility  of  the  apostles  must  re- 
nounce all  confidence  in  his  own  strength,  and  must  look  for  salva- 
vation  through  Christ's  death,  with  as  much  personal  gratitude  as  if 
Christ  had  suffered  for  him  alone.  Though  in  many  cases  it  may  be 
impossible,  as  was  formerly  acknowledged,  for  those  who  have  been 
placed  in  covenant  with  God  by  baptism,  to  state  at  what  time  and 


360  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

by  what  process  the  truths  of  the  gospel  became  an  active  principle 
in  the  mind,  still  it  is  undeniable  that  in  all  who  attain  the  age  of 
reason  they  must  become  so,  or  the  covenant  is  made  void ;  and  it  is 
a  definite  and  intelligible  question  whether  they  have  actually  taken 
this  hold,  or  no.  How  the  tree  was  nourished  and  invigorated,  and 
enabled  to  sustain  the  inclement  seasons  which  opposed  its  early 
growth  and  strength,  we  may  in  vain  inquire  ;  but  whether  it  bears 
fruit  or  not,  and  whether  that  fruit  gives  evidence  of  a  sound  stock, 
any  one  may  examine  either  as  to  himself  or  others.  Is  the  heart 
possessed  of  a  sincere  conviction  of  its  own  sinfulness  and  need  of  a 
Saviour  ?  Does  it  manifest  its  dependence  on  the  Holy  Spirit  by  an 
habitual  intercourse  with  God  through  prayer  ?  Does  it  feel  a  practi- 
cal sense  of  the  great  business  of  this  life  as  a  probation,  and  prep- 
aration for  eternity  ?  These  are  infallible  characters  of  faith  ;  and 
though  they  will  be  found  in  different  degrees  in  different  individ- 
uals, no  one  should  be  satisfied  with  himself,  and  no  one  should 
suffer  his  congregation  to  be  satisfied,  till  he  can  trace  these  characters 
in  the  heart. 

"  But  if  such  a  frame  of  mind  is  indispensable  to  a  Christian's 
reasonable  hope,  it  is  evident  that  a  preacher  can  in  no  wise  take  it 
for  granted  that  it  exists  in  his  hearers  as  the  necessary  and  certain 
consequence  of  baptism  ;  but  must  require  of  all  who  have  the 
privilege  of  baptism,  that  they  strive  to  attain  it ;  that,  being  regen- 
erate in  condition,  they  be  also  renewed  in  nature ;  and  constantly 
examine  themselves  whether  they  have  this  proof  within  them,  that 
they  are  bom  of  the  Spirit  as  well  as  of  water,  and  can  make  the 
i  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God.'  " — Sumner's  Apostolical 
PreacJiing,  ch.  vii. 

It  is  not,  however,  by  those  only  who  approve  of  the  doctrine 
which  I  have  attributed  to  our  reformers,  that  this  interpretation  of 
their  words  is  adopted.  Several  persons  also  who  disapprove  it, 
both  Dissenters  and  (what  is  very  remarkable)  Churchmen,  concur 
in  adopting  an  interpretation  substantially  the  same. 

As  for  the  former  of  these,  the  Dissenters,  their  testimony  will,  I 
suppose,  be  considered  as  of  the  less  weight  in  proportion  as  they 
may  be  suspected  of  being  unconsciously  biassed  by  a  wish  to 
alienate  others  from  a  church  to  which  they  do  not  themselves  be- 
long. But  the  reverse  is  the  case  with  those  who  are  members,  and 
even  ministers,  of  our  church ;  since  their  bias,  if  any,  must  be  on  the 
opposite  side. 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  361 

Now  there  Is  a  ease  recorded  of  a  beneficed  clergyman  who,  not 
many  years  ago,  felt  it  his  duty  to  print  and  circulate  among  his 
parishioners  tracts  censuring  the  formularies  of  the  church  on  the 
very  ground  of  their  inculcating  the  doctrines  in  question.  For 
this  procedure  he  was  tried  in  an  ecclesiastical  court,  and  sentenced 
to  suspension. 

Some  of  his  parishioners  endeavored  thereupon  to  raise  a  sub- 
scription for  him ;  and  with  that  view  put  forth  a  printed  circular 
(of  which  a  copy  was  sent  to  me),  representing  him  as  a  martyr 
suffering  persecution  for  conscience  sake.  And  there  might  have 
been  some  ground  for  this  representation,  if  he  had  voluntarily 
resigned  the  endowments  of  a  church  which  he  regarded  as  funda- 
mentally unsound,  instead  of  retaining  them  as  long  as  he  was  per- 
mitted to  do  so. 

The  system  of  morality  —  whatever  it  was  —  by  which  he  recon- 
ciled this  to  his  conscience,  seems  to  have  been  adopted  by  a  portion 
at  least  of  his  flock. 

But  at  any  rate,  he  could  have  had  no  conceivable  bias  towards 
an  interpretation  of  the  formularies  of  his  church  which  would  make 
them  at  variance  with  his  own  teaching. 


Note  G  — Page  338. 

All  persons  ought  to  receive  the  holy  communion  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  on  the  very  first  opportunity  after  being  confirmed.  Our 
church  directs  that '  no  one  shall  be  admitted  to  the  communion  ex- 
cept one  who  has  been  confirmed,  or  is  ready  and  is  desirous  to  be 
confirmed ; '  and  again,  that  '  all  persons  '  (that  is,  of  course  all 
who  are  not  too  young  or  too  ignorant  for  confirmation)  '  shall  re- 
ceive the  communion  at  least  three  times  a  year.'  From  this  it  is 
plain  that  though  such  as  have  not  been  confirmed  may,  if  they  are 
prepared  and  willing  to  be  so,  attend  without  any  scruple  the  sac- 
rament of  the  Lord's  Supper ;  on  the  other  hand,  no  one,  who  has 
been  confirmed,  ought  to  delay  receiving  that  sacrament.  The 
catechism  also,  designed  for  the  instruction  of  children  before  con- 
firmation, proves  the  same  thing  ;  since  it  contains  an  explanation 
of  the  two  sacraments. 

"  Some  persons  entertain  a  groundless  notion,  that  a  child,  who  is 
fit  for  confirmation,  may  yet  be  too  young  to  receive  the  commu- 
31 


362  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

nion ;  and  many,  it  is  to  be  feared,  for  this  and  for  otlier  reasons, 
go  on  from  Sunday  to  Sunday,  and  from  year  to  year,  putting  off 
this  duty,  in  expectation  of  becoming  more  jit  for  it ;  when  it  is 
likely  that  they  are  becoming  every  day  less  fit,  and  are  falling  into 
a  careless  and  irreligious  state  of  mind. 

"  But  if  you  wiU  consider  the  matter  carefully,  you  will  see  that 
our  church  is  quite  right  in  determining  that  all  who  have  been 
confirmed  should  receive  tlie  Lord's  Supper  without  delay.  For 
all  of  them,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  understand  and  rightly  reflect  on  the 
one  sacrament,  -=—  that  of  baptism  ;  if  they  do  not,  the  ceremony  of 
confirmation  is  a  mere  empty  mockery  ;  and  if  they  do,  they  are 
capable  of  sufficiently  understanding  and  valuing  the  other  sacra- 
ment also,  and  in  that  case  they  ought  not  to  delay  receiving  it. 

"  Accordingly  provision  has  been  made  to  prevent  any  such  delay, 
by  celebrating  the  Lord's  Supper  in  each  church  immediately  after 
the  confirmation  ;  and  all  the  young  persons  who  shall  have  been 
confirmed  will  be  expected  to  attend. 

"  '  To-day,  therefore,  if  ye  will  hear  God's  voice,  while  it  is  called 
to-day,  lest  any  of  you  be  hardened  through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin/ 
accept  his  gracious  offer ;  and  continue  from  this  time  forth  to  be  a 
regular  attendant  at  his  holy  table." 

CONFIRMATION  HYMN. 

"  Lord,  shall  thy  children  come  to  thee? 

A  boon  of  love  divine  we  seek  ; 
Brought  to  thine  arms  in  infancy, 

Ere  heart  could  feel  or  tongue  could  speak, 
Thy  children  pray  for  grace  that  they 
May  come  themselves  to  thee  this  day. 

"  Lord,  shall  we  come?  and  come  again 
Oft  as  we  see  yon  table  spread, 
And  —  tokens  of  thy  dj'ing  pain  — 

The  wine  poured  out,  the  broken  bread  ? 
Bless,  bless,  O  Lord,  thy  children's  prayer, 
That  they  may  come  and  find  Thee  there ! 

"  Lord,  shall  we  come,  not  thus  alone. 
At  holy  time,  or  solemn  rite. 
But  every  hour  till  life  be  flown, 

In  weal  or  woe,  in  gloom  or  light; 
Come  to  thy  throne  of  grace,  that  we 
In  faith,  hope,  love,  confirmed  may  be? 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  363 

'  Lord,  shall  we  come  —  come  yet  again,  — 
Thy  children  ask  one  blessing  more,  — 
To  come  not  now  alone,  but  then, 

When  life,  and  death,  and  time  are  o'er; 
Then,  then  to  come,  O  Lord,  and  be 
Confirmed  in  heaven,  confirmed  by  thee?  " 


Note  H  —  Page  338. 

As  for  the  particular  contest  I  have  now  been  alluding  to,  I  shall 
abstain  from  entering  on  any  discussion  of  the  merits  of  the  decisions 
which  have  been  pronounced,  further  than  to  remark  upon  one  mis- 
conception of  them  which  I  have  observed  to  be  not  a  little  preva- 
lent. The  recent  sentence,  which  has  attracted  so  much  public  at- 
tention, was  not,  as  several  persons  seem  to  have  apprehended,  a 
decision  as  to  the  soundness  or  unsoundness  of  such  and  such  views 
of  a  Scripture  doctrine,  but  on  a  very  different  question.  That 
question  was,  whether  the  maintainers  of  a  certain  tenet  are,  as  such, 
excluded  from  holding  office  in  our  church,  — whether  our  formula- 
ries are  so  distinct  and  decisive  on  the  point  as  in  fact  to  excomrniir 
nicate  all  who  hold  that  tenet.  And  the  decision  actually  given  — 
he  it  a  right  or  a  wrong  one  —  is  one  which  might  conceivably  have 
been  given  (without  any  just  imputation  of  inconsistency)  by  judges 
who  did  not  themselves  entertain  such  views. 

Thus  much,  at  least,  is  what  no  one,  I  conceive,  will,  on  reflection, 
at  all  doubt,  —  that  if  the  opinions  of  the  contending  parties  had  been 
reversed,  and  a  candidate  for  institution  had  been  rejected  on  the 
ground  of  his  not  holding  the  doctrines  which  were  recently  objected 
to  as  heterdox,  the  decision  would  have  been,  at  least  as  promptly 
as  in  the  present  case,  given  in  his  favor.  For  it  ought  to  be  re- 
membered, that  in  the  case  of  any  penal  enactment,  the  established 
rule  is,  to  incline  always  (where  any  doubt  exists)  towards  the  most 
lenient  interpretation.  And  exclusion  from  a  benefice  is  evidently 
of  the  character  of  a  penalty. 

As  for  the  degree  of  latitude  that  is  to  be  allowed  in  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  articles  and  formularies  of  a  church,  it  would  be 
manifestly  impossible  to  lay  down  any  general  rule  that  would  be  a 
sufficient  guide  in  all  particular  cases.  But  every  one  must  admit, 
I  conceive,  that  there  is  a  just  medium  which  should  be  aimed  at, 
however  men  may  differ  in  fixing  that  medium  in  each  individual 


3G4  WHATELY-S  ESSAYS. 

instance,  between  excessive  strictness  and  excessive  laxity.  For,  on 
the  one  hand,  if  each  of  us  should  insist  on  excluding  from  church- 
membership  all  who  did  not  fully  coincide  with  himself  in  the  pre- 
cise interpretation  of  every  passage  in  our  formularies,  and  in  every 
inference  which  appeared  to  him  fau'ly  deducible  from  such  inter- 
pretation, it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  result  would  be  a  virtual 
division  of  the  church  into  several  different  churches,  mutually  ex- 
communicating each  other.  And  yet  it  is  no  less  evident,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  if,  through  dread  of  such  a  result,  we  should  adopt 
the  principle  that  every  one  is  to  be  at  liberty  to  assign  to  our  form- 
ulaiies  whatever  meaning  he  may  think  fit,  interpreting  them  in 
any  "  non-natural "  sense  that  may  suit  his  own  views,  no  form  of 
rehgion,  or  of  irreligion  —  atheism  not  excepted  —  would  be  ex- 
cluded.^ Our  church  would  be  one  in  nothing  but  in  name ;  and 
language  would  have  completely  failed  of  the  very  object  for  which 
language  exists,  —  to  convey  an  intelligible  sense. 

Recently,  however,  we  have  witnessed  the  strange  spectacle  of 
professed  members  and  beneficed  ministers  of  our  church  openly 
maintaining  transubstantiation  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass ;  or,  at 
least,  what  comes  so  near  to  these  doctrines,  that,  of  plain  men  un- 
versed in  scholastic  subtilities,  not  one  in  a  hundred  could  perceive 
the  difference.  And  others  again,  while  professing  to  disapprove  of 
such  teaching,  yet  regard  it  as  not  going  beyond  the  allowable  lati- 
tude conceded  to  members  of  our  church  ;  though  the  doctrines  are 
what  our  reformers  rii?ked,  and  some  of  them  sacrificed,  their  lives 
in  opposing ;  and  which  they  sedulously  guarded  against  not  only  in 
the  articles,  but  also  in  the  Rubric,  in  which  they  declare  that  "  our 
Lord's  body  is  in  heaven,  and  not  here."  Strange,  again,  it  is, 
and  lamentable,  that  persons  should  be  found,  even  among  the  mem- 
bers of  our  own  church,  who,  while  vehemently  opposing  the  doctrines 
in  question,  labor  to  fix  on  our  church  the  imputation  of  favoring 
those  views,  on  the  ground  of  our  reformers  having  used  language 
borrowed  from  that  of  our  Lord  himself:  "My  flesh  is  meat  indeed," 
etc.  If,  in  the  expressions  of  our  reformers,  the  word  "  indeed  "  is 
to  be  understood  to  signify  "literally  and  corporeally,"  the  same 
word  in  our  Lord's  expression  must  be  understood  so  too ;  and  thus 
these  opponents  of  transubstantiation  labor  to  array  against  them- 

1  As  this  may  perhaps  appear  to  some  of  my  readers  an  exaggerated  statement, 
I  have  subjoined  in  Note  K  some  remarks  in  confirmation  of  it,  extracted  from 
works  published  several  years  ago. 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  365 

selves  botli  the  language  of  our  formularies  and  that  of  Scripture 
itself. 

The  medium  between  the  opposite  extremes  we  must  expect  to 
find,  in  practice,  placed  somewhat  differently  by  different  persons. 
But  thus  much,  at  least,  may  in  fairness  be  required  of  all,  —  that 
whatever  degree  of  strictness,  or  of  laxity  of  interpretation,  each  per- 
son may  deem  right,  he  should  allow  as  right  for  all  men  alike  ;  and 
that  he  should  not  have  one  rule  for  himself  and  those  who  agree 
with  him,  and  another  rule  for  such  as  may  think  differently. 

Self-evident  as  is  the  justice  of  this  maxim,  no  one  will  think  the 
mention  of  it  superfluous  who  considers  how  widely  it  has  been  de- 
parted from  by  many  persons  of  opposite  parties.  One  may  hear 
the  most  vehement  and  indignant  censures  pronounced,  and  that 
from  both  sides,  on  such  as  put  a  forced  and  unnatural  interpretation 
on  the  language  of  such  and  such  portions  of  our  formularies,  while 
the  complainants  themselves  are  no  less  boldly  explaining  away  the 
language  of  certain  other  portions  into  a  conformity  with  their  own 
views.^ 

Whatever  allowance  may  be  made  for  sincere  errors  of  judgment, 
one  cannot  but  regard  those  as  self-condemned  who  adopt  without 
scruple,  in  their  own  favor,  a  mode  of  procedure  which,  in  their  op- 
ponents, they  loudly  condemn  as  disingenuous. 


Note  I— Page  339. 

I  have  seen  reproaches  full  of  scornful  exultation  cast  on  Protes- 
tants for  having  recourse,  when  treating  of  the  subject  of  church 
government,  to  reasonings  drawn  from  general  views  of  human  na- 
ture, and  to  illustrations  from  secular  affairs,  and  for  calculating 
what  are  likely  to  be  the  decisions  of  a  synod,  so  and  so  constituted ; 

1  One  among  many  instances  that  might  be  given  of  this  kind  of  unfairness, 
is,  the  conduct  of  some  persons  who,  at  public  meetings,  and  in  various  other 
ways,  have  been  protesting  against  the  disingenuousness  of  those  who  depart 
from  the  plain  sense  of  our  formularies,  though  they  not  only  never  expressed 
any  disapprobation  of  the  celebrated  Tract  90,  and  other  such  publications, 
but  even  (some  of  them)  protested  publicly  against  the  condemnation  of  these 
by  the  University  of  Oxford!  I  have  subjoined  in  Xote  L  a  few  extracts  from 
that  Tract,  as  it  may  perhaps  not  be  in  the  hands  of  some  of  my  readers. 

31* 


366  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

-without  adverting  to  the  promises  of  divine  presence  and  protection 
to  the  church,  and  without  expressing  confidence  of  providential  in- 
terpositions to  secure  it  from  discord,  error,  and  other  evils. 

This  kind  of  language  has,  at  the  first  glance,  a  plausible  air ;  and 
is  well  calculated  —  one  cannot  but  think,  designed  —  to  impose 
on  pious  and  well-intentioned,  but  ignorant,  weak,  and  unreflecting 
minds  among  the  multitude.  But  a  sober  examination  will  show  it 
to  be  either  wholly  irrelevant  to  the  matter  in  hand,  or  else  a  mere 
groundless  pretence. 

It  is  indeed  true  that  the  Lord  has  promised  to  be  with  his  people 
"  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"  and  that  the  "  gates  of  hell,"  that 
is,  death,  "  shall  not  prevail  against  his  church ;  "  that  is,  that  Chris- 
tianity shall  never  become  extinct.  And  his  "  Spirit  which  helpeth 
our  infirmities  "  will  doubtless  be  granted  to  such  as  sincerely  exert 
themselves  in  his  cause  ;  though  not  necessarily  so  as  to  crown  those 
exertions  with  such  complete  success,  as,  we  know,  was  not  granted 
to  the  apostles  themselves.  Our  efibrts,  however,  in  that  cause, 
whether  He  in  His  unsearchable  wisdom  shall  see  fit  to  make  them  a 
greater  or  a  less  benefit  to  others,  will  doubtless,  as  far  as  regards 
ourselves,  be  accepted  by  Him.  And  a  pious  confidence  in  whatever 
God  has  really  promised,  Prostestants  do  not  fail  to  inculcate  on 
suitable  occasions. 

But  when  the  question  is  as  to  the  probable  results  of  such  and 
such  a  procedure  in  a  synod,  and  as  to  the  measures  likely  to  be 
adopted  by  a  government  so  and  so  constituted,  it  would  manifestly 
be  irrelevant  to  dwell  on  those  general  promisco  of  the  divine  bless- 
ing. If  there  were  a  question  what  means  should  be  used  to  protect 
a  certain  district  from  hurtful  inundations,  no  one  would  think  of 
cutting  short  the  discussion  by  a  reference  to  the  promise  made  to 
Noah,  that  the  whole  earth  should  never  again  be  laid  waste  by  a 
deluge.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  reproaches  I  have  alluded 
to  must  be  understood  as  having  reference  to  (that  which  alone  is 
pertinent  to  the  question)  confidence  in  a  promise  of  supernatural 
interference  to  secure  the  church  forever  from  strife,  schism,  and 
corruption. 

And  certainly  if  we  had  received  any  such  promise,  all  apprehen- 
sions, all  calculations  of  probabllites,  all  reasonings  from  the  anal- 
ogy of  other  human  transactions,  would  be  superseded ;  and  we 
should  have  only  to  "  stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of  God." 

But  every  one,  except  the  grossly  ignorant  and  unthinking,  must 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  867 

be  well  aware  that  no  such  promise  has  ever  loeen  fulJiUed,  and  con- 
sequently (if  the  Scriptures  are  to  be  taken  as  a  record  of  divine 
truth)  that  none  such  was  ever  made. 

We  find  the  Apostle  Paul  declaring  that  "  there  must  needs  be 
heresies,  that  they  who  are  approved  may  be  made  manifest ; "  we 
find  him  laboring  to  repress  the  irregularities  and  party-spirit  which 
even  in  his  own  time  had  crept  into  the  church  of  Corinth  ;  and 
warning  the  elders  of  Ephesus  and  Miletus  to  "  take  heed,  because 
after  his  departure  grievous  wolves  would  enter  into  the  fold.'* 
Corruptions  in  doctrine,  disorders,  dissension,  and  insubordination, 
are  evils  of  which  he  is  continually  giving  notice  to  his  people  as 
what  they  must  be  prepared  to  encounter. 

And  when  we  look  to  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  subsequent  ages 
—  exhibiting  the  sad  spectacle  of  contests  almost  equally  dividing 
the  church  between  the  Arians,  for  instance,  and  the  Athanasians, 
on  points  of  doctrine,  and  between  the  donatists  and  their  oppon- 
ents, on  a  question  of  ecclesiastical  polity,  —  besides  the  mutual 
anathemas  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  churches,  and  besides  all  the 
cabals  and  intrigues,  and  secular  motives,  and  evil  passions  which 
have  notoriously  found  their  way  into  councils,  and  conclaves,  and 
ecclesiastical  courts,  —  when  we  contemplate  all  this,  we  see  but  too 
well  what  reason  the  apostle  had  for  his  warnings. 

But  there  is  no  need  in  the  present  case  to  resort  to  ancient  his- 
tory. The  very  existence  of  Protestants  (to  say  nothing  of  the 
Greek  Church)  is  sufficient  to  nullify,  in  respect  of  the  Church  of 
Rome,  at  least,  the  notion  of  an  exemption  from  error  and  from 
schism  being  promised  to  that  as  to  the  universal  or  Catholic  Church. 
For,  the  Church  of  Rome  claims  all  professing  Christians  as  properly 
belonging  to  it :  considering  Protestants  as  children,  though  disobe- 
dient children ;  subjects,  though  revolted  subjects.  The  very  rise, 
therefore,  and  continued  existence,  of  Protestantism,  proves  the 
non-existence  in  the  Catholic  Church  (if  the  Church  of  Rome  be 
supposed  such). of  any  immunity  from  heresy  and  schism.  And  if 
it  be  attempted  to  avoid  this  conclusion  by  allowing  that  Protestants 
and  members  of  the  Greek  Church  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  in  any 
way  belonging  to  the  Church  of  Rome,  then  the  pretensions  of  that 
church  to  be  the  Catholic,  that  is,  Universal  Church,  must  be  given 
up. 

Whatever  plausibility,  therefore,  there  may  appear  at  first  sight  in 
the  pretensions,  separately  taken,  of  that  church,  on  the  one  hand 


5.68  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

to  perfect  purity  of  doctrine  and  unity,  and  on  the  otber  hand  to 
universality,  it  is  evident  that  both  conjointly  cannot  be  maintained 
■with  even  any  show  of  reason.  Either  the  one  or  the  other  must 
be  abandoned.  Like  the  pictures  of  a  Thaumatrope,  the  two  will 
be  found,  on  careful  and  steady  observation,  to  be  painted  on  oppo- 
site sides  ;  and  it  is  only  by  a  confused  whirl  that  they  can  be  made 
to  appear  in  conjunction.  If  Protestants,  and  members  of  the  Greek, 
the  Armenian,  and  other  churches  do  not  belong  to  the  liomish 
Church,  it  cannot  be  universal ;  if  (which  is  what  its  advocates  ac- 
tually maintain)  all  Christians  do  belong  to  it,  then  it  manifestly  is 
not  exempt  from  divisions  and  contrariety  of  doctrine.  It  is  in  vain  (as 
far  as  the  present  question  is  concerned)  to  urge  that  the  doctrine 
and  procedure  of  Protestants,  etc.,  are  condemned  by  the  authorities 
of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  by  all  its  sound  members.  For,  an 
exemption  from  a  certain  evil  must  consist,  not  in  its  being  censured 
when  it  arises,  but  in  its  not  arising  at  all.  Indeed,  it  would  be  very 
easy,  and  also  quite  nugatory,  for  any  church  whatever  to  set  up 
the  boast  that  its  doctrines  are  received  by  all  —  except  those  who 
dissent  from  them,  and  that  all  submit  to  its  authority  —  except 
those  who  refuse  submission. 

So,  also,  the  most  insignificant  state  existing  might  pretend  to 
universal  empire.  It  is  said  that  it  is,  or  was,  the  custom  for  the 
Kham  of  Tartary,  every  day,  as  soon  as  he  has  dined,  to  send  out  a 
herald  to  his  tent-door  to  make  proclamation,  in  a  loud  voice,  that 
all  the  kings  of  the  earth  are  now  at  liberty  to  go  to  dinner.  This 
may  be  considered  as  putting  forth  a  claim  to  universal  supremacy, 
but  it  would  hardly  be  regarded  as  estaUislung  the  claim. 

And  as  for  exemption  from  error  and  dissension,  let  any  one  but 
consider  what  would  be  thought  if  an  Englishman  were  to  boast  to 
a  Hindoo  or  a  Chinese  that  London  enjoys  the  happiness  of  being 
exempt  from  all  crimes  and  also  from  conflagrations;  and  should 
afterwards  explain  his  meaning  to  be,  that  all  crimes  are  forbidden 
by  law  ;  the  perpetrator  being  liable,  when  detected  and  apprehended, 
to  be  punished  as  the  law  directs ;  and  that  though  fires  do  break 
out,  from  time  to  time,  there  are  fire-engines  ready  to  be  called  out 
on  such  occasions.  Every  one  would  at  once  perceive  that  all  this 
does  not  amount  to  what  can  be  properly  termed  an  exemption. 

The  extraordinary  Providence,  therefore,  which  is  boasted  of  as  se- 
curing the  true  church  from  division  and  from  error,  and  which  Pro- 
testants are  reproached  with  not  trusting  to  or  claiming,  has  evidently 


ON  INTAKT-EAPTISM.  869 

no  existence  in  the  very  church  to  which  those  who  utter  the  reproach 
belong.  And  one  can  hardly  doubt  that  they  must  themselves  be 
aware  of  this  ;  and  that  when  they  speak,  in  a  tone  of  exulting 
confidence,  of  the  miraculous  exemption  of  their  church  from  the 
inroads  of  false  doctrine  and  dissension,  they  are  only  seeking  to 
quiet  the  minds  of  the  unthinking  vulgar  with  a  delusive  consolation. 

How  far  this  kind  of  language  may  work  an  opposite  effect  on 
the  minds  of  the  more  educated  classes  —  how  far  the  great  preva- 
lence of  infidelity  among  those  classes  on  the  continent  may  be 
accounted  for  by  their  continually  hearing,  from  those  who,  they  will 
conclude,  ought  to  know  what  their  own  Scriptures  say,  of  promises 
having  been  made  to  the  church  which,  it  is  evident,  as  a  matter  of 
experience,  have  7iot  been  fulfilled — is  an  Inquiry  into  which  I  will  not 
now  enter.  My  own  conviction  is,  that  every  kind  of  pious  fraud  is 
as  much  at  variance,  ultimately,  with  sound  policy,  as  it  is  with 
Christian  principle. 

I  am  well  aware  that  when  the  two  claims  —  that  to  universality, 
and  that  to  exemption  from  dissension  and  from  error  —  are  brought 
forward  m  conjunction,  and  it  is  undertaken  to  reconcile  them  with 
each  other,  it  is  usual  to  explain  one  or  both  of  them  in  a  sense 
different  from  the  obvious  and  natural  meaning  of  the  words,  so  as 
to  render  the  two  claims  compatible.  Then  it  is  that  we  are  told 
that  "  Catholic  "  or  "  Universal "  means  only  the  religion  of  a  con^ 
siderable  majority  of  professing  Christians,  or  the  religion  the  most 
widely  diffused  throughout  Christendom  :  or  we  are  told  that  the 
Universal  Church  means  merely  that  which  all  professed  Christians 
ought  to  belong  to ;  and  that  adults  of  sound  mind  who  have  received 
Christian  baptism,  and  deliberately  profess  Christianity,  are  not^ 
necessarily,  members  of  the  Universal  Church,  or  Christians  at  all. 

And  we  are  also  told  that  exemption  from  dissension  and  from 
error  belongs  to  those  only  who  submit  in  all  points  to  the  decisions 
of  the  rulers  of  the  Catholic  Church.  And,  doubtless,  if  all  man- 
kind, or  any  number  of  men,  would  but  come  to  a  perfect  agreement 
in  any  one  religion,  —  be  it  true  or  false,  —  they  could  not  but  be 
exempt  from  religious  dissension,  and,  if  not  from  error,  at  least 
from  anything  that  they  themselves  would  account  an  error. 

But  surely  this  is  to  "  keep  the  word  of  promise  to  the  ear,  and 
break  it  to  the  hope."  It  is  not  in  any  such  sense  that  the  preten- 
sions I  have  been  speaking  of  are  usually  put  forth,  and  naturally 
understood,  when  taken  separately.     And  it  is  not  under  any  such 


370  WnATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

explanations  as  the  above,  tliat  those  pretensions  are  found  so  allur- 
ing and  so  satisfactory  as,  to  a  great  number  of  persons,  they  are ; 
but  in  the  natural  and  ordinary  sense  of  the  words.  The  expression 
"  Catholic"  or  "  Universal "  Church  is  naturally  understood  to  de- 
note that  which  comprehends  all  Christians,  And  by  the  word 
Christians  is  understood  those  who  acknowledge  and  professedly 
embrace  the  religion  founded  by  Jesus  Christ.  And  those  who  des- 
ignate any  of  these  as  heretics  are  so  far  from  denying  them  the  title 
of  Christians  (though  unsound  and  perverted  Christians),  that  they 
imply  it ;  since  Pagans  or  avowed  atheists  are  never  reckoned  her- 
etics. 

I  am  not,  be  it  observed,  defending  this  use  of  the  word  "  Chris- 
tian "  as  the  most  advisable  to  be  adopted,  if  we  were  framing  a  new 
language.  It  might,  we  will  suppose,  have  been  advisable  so  to  de- 
fine the  term  that  no  two  Christian  sects  or  churches  should  apply  it 
to  the  same  persons.  I  am  simply  stating  a  fact  as  to  the  actual 
sense  conveyed  by  the  word  in  our  existing  language.  And  that 
such  is  the  sense  conveyed  by  it,  is  as  much  a  fact  as  that  we  actually 
call  the  ninth  month  of  the  year  September,  and  the  tenth  October; 
though  if  we  were  remodelling  our  language,  the  impropriety  of 
such  names  would  be  obvious. 

And  again,  exemption  from  dissension  and  from  error  naturally 
conveys  the  idea,  not  of  these  evils  being  condemned  by  certain 
authorities  when  they  arise,  but  of  their  never  arising  at  all. 

And  it  is  in  these  obvious  and  natural  senses  of  the  words  that 
the  above  pretensions  are,  in  general,  —  when  taken  separately, — 
put  forth  with  boastful  confidence,  and  prove  so  attractive  and  so 
consolatory  to  the  minds  of  many  as  to  be  at  once  admitted  without 
any  close  scrutiny  as  to  how  far  they  are  well  founded. 

But  when  the  two  claims  are  brought  into  juxtaposition,  and  it  is 
inquired  how  far  they  are  compatible,  then  they  are  explained  away 
in  the  manner  above  alluded  to.  The  promise  is  made  in  one  sense, 
and  kept  in  the  other.  If  King  George  III.  and  his  predecessors 
had  boasted  that  the  English  language  was  in  use  in  all  their  Euro- 
pean dominions,  and  also  that  they  were  Kings  of  France,  every  one 
would  have  seen,  that,  whatever  might  be  said  for  each  of  these 
claims  separately,  they  were  incompatible  with  each  other. 

Waiving,  however,  all  reference  to  those  who  reject  the  supremacy 
of  Rome,  the  differences  that  have  occurred  —  and  that  have  been 


ON  INFANT  BAPTISM.  371 

permitted  —  among  those  who  do  acknowledge  it,  are  such  that  one 
cannot  but  wonder  at  the  boldness  with  which  the  claim  is  put 
forward  of  a  miraculous  exemption  from  everything  of  the  kind. 
The  long  and  violent  disputes  indeed  between  Franciscans  and 
Dominicans  about  the  doctrine  of  the  "  immaculate  conception,"  or 
those  between  the  Jesuits  and  the  Jansenists  as  to  sundry  important 
points  of  faith,  —  these  tlie  unlearned  multitude,  in  many  countries, 
may  have  never  heard  of.  But  they  must  surely  have  heard  of 
books  deliberately  sanctioned  and  recommended  for  the  use  of  schools 
by  prelates  of  the  highest  rank,  and  moreover  approved  by  the  pope 
himself,  being  denounced  by  other  prelates  of  the  same  church,  as 
not  only  dangerous,  but  fu^J.  of  unsound  doctrine. 

In  the  face  of  all  this,  to  boast  of  unbroken  peace  and  concord  is 
surely  a  large  demand  on  popular  credulity. 


Note  K— Page  364. 

"  This  disingenuous  system  is  a  tree  which  has,  of  late,  borne 
fruits  that  have  startled  many,  even  of  those  who  could  not  see, 
when  first  pointed  out  to  them,  the  natural  tendency  of  the  system. 
The  fundamental  doctrines  of  our  reformers  have  been  explained 
away  by  interpreting  their  words  in  a  non-natural  sense,  so  as  to 
allow  members  of  our  church  to  hold  tenets  the  most  opposite.  Now^ 
how  can  any  one  be  sure  that  the  application  of  the  principle  is 
arbitrarily  stopped  short  at  this  point  ?  Let  any  one  examine  and 
compare  together  these  non-natural  interpretations  and  the  language, 
in  reference  to  Christianity,  of  the  foreign  Transcendentalists  who 
profess  to  believe  that  Christianity  came  from  God,  in  the  same 
sense  in  which  everything  comes  from  God  ;  who  teach  the  incarna- 
tion —  explaining  to  the  initiated  that  this  means  the  presence  of 
the  Deity,  that  is,  of  the  '  spiritual  principle '  which  pervades  the 
universe  —  the  God  of  Pantheism  —  in  man,  generally,  as  well  as  in 
all  other  animals ;  and  who  profess  a  belief  in  man's  immortality, 
that  is,  that  the  human  species  will  never  become  extinct,  etc.  —  let 
any  one,  I  say,  compare  together  these  two  systems  (if  indeed  tliey 
are  to  be  reckoned  as  two),  and  say  whether  there  is  any  greater 

VIOLENCE  DONE  TO  THE  ORDINARY  SENSE  OF  WORDS  BY  THE  ONE 

THAN  BY  THE  OTHER,  —  whether  he  who  professes  himself  a  church- 
man according  to  the  one  system,  may  not,  with  perfect  consistency, 


872  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

profess  himself  a  Christian  according  to  the  other.  Even  supposing, 
therefore,  that  all  the  disciples  of  the  school  in  question  do  inwardly 
believe  in  the  truth  of  Christianity,  they  cannot  give  any  sufficient 
assurance  that  they  do  so." — Inirod.  to  Essays  on  Peculiarities,  5th 
ed.  pp.  8,  9. 

"  It  might  be  added  that,  among  those  who  express  the  greatest 
dread  and  detestation  of '  German  Neology,' — '  German  Philosophy,' 
— '  the  daring  speculations  of  the  Germans,'  etc.,  are  to  be  found 
some  of  that  class  of  Anglican  divines  whose  doctrines  apparently 
correspond  the  most  closely  (as  far  as  we  can  judge  respecting  two 
confessedly  mystic  schools)  with  those  of  that  very  Neology.  The 
very  circumstance  itself  that  both  are  schools  of  mysticism,  —  that 
both  parties  have  one  system  for  the  mass  of  mankind,  and  another 
—  whether  expressed  in  different  language,  or  In  the  same  words 
understood  In  a  totally  different  sense  —  for  the  initiated,  affords  a 
presumption,  when  there  are  some  points  of  coincidence  in  the  doc- 
trine divulged,  that  a  still  further  agreement  may  be  expected  in 
the  reserved  doctrines. 

"  As  the  advocates  of  reserve  among  us  speak  of  not  intending  to 
inculcate  generally  such  conclusions  as  a  logical  reasoner  will  cor- 
rectly deduce  by  following  out  their  principles,  and,  again,  speak  of 
an  ordinary  reader  being  likely  to  '  miss  their  real  meaning  by  not 
being  aware  of  the  peculiar  sense  in  which  they  employ  terms,'  so 
those  German  Transcendentahsts  whom  I  allude  to  —  whose  system 
of  theology,  or  rather  of  atheology,  is  little  else  than  a  new  edi- 
tion of  the  Pantheism  of  the  ancient  heathen  philosophers,  of  the 
Brahmins,  and  the  Buddhists  —  use  a  similar  double-meaning  lan- 
guage. They  profess  Christianity,  and  employ  profusely  such 
terms  as  a  '  God,' '  faith,'  '  incarnation,' '  miracle,' '  immortality,'  etc., 
attaching  to  these  words  a  meaning  quite  remote  from  what  is  com- 
monly understood  by  them.  Their  '  God '  is  the  God  of  Pantheism ; 
not  a  personal  agent,  but  a  certain  vital  principle  diffused  through 
the  material  universe,  and  of  which  every  human  soul  is  a  portion  ; 
which  is  at  death  to  be  reabsorbed  into  the  infinite  Spirit,  and  be- 
come just  what  it  was  before  birth,^  exactly  according  to  the  ancient 
system  of  philosophy  described  by  Virgil :  '  Mens  agitat  molem  et 
toto  se  corpore  miscet ;  Inde  hominum  pecudumque  genus,*  etc.  And 
the  other  terms  alluded  to  are  understood  by  them  in  a  sense  no  less 
wide  from  the  popular  acceptation. 

1  See  Essay  I.,  First  Series. 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  373 

"  Both  parties,  again,  agree  in  deprecating  all  employment  of 
reasoning  in  matters  pertaining  to  religion ;  both  decry  the  historical 
evidence  of  Christianity,  and  discourage  as  profane  all  appeal  to 
evidence ;  and  both  disparage  miracles  considered  as  a  proof  of  the 
divine  origin  of  Christianity  ;  alleging  that  every  event  that  occurs 
is  equally  a  miracle ;  meaning,  therefore,  exactly  what  in  ordinary 
language  would  be  expressed  by  saying  that  nothing  is  miraculous. 

"  Other  coincidences  may  be  observed  ;  such  as  the  strong  desire 
manifested  by  both  parties  to  explain  away  or  soften  down  the  line 
of  demarcation  between  what  ordinary  Christians  call  the  Scriptures, 
and  everything  subsequent,  —  between  what  we  call  the  Christian 
revelation,  considered  as  an  historical  transaction  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament,  and  any  pretended  after-revelation,  or  improve- 
ment, or  completion,  or  perfect  development,  of  '  the  system  of  true 
religion.'  To  Christianity  as  a  revelation  completed  in  our  sacred 
books,  both  parties,  more  or  less  openly,  according  to  circumstances, 
confess  their  objection. 

"  And  it  is  remarkable  that  even  the  vehement  censures  pro- 
nounced by  one  of  these  schools  on  the  speculations  of  the  other, 
is  far  from  being  inconsistent  with  their  fundamental  ajjreement  in 
principles.  For,  of  the  German  Neologists  themselves,  some  of  the 
leading  writers  strongly  condemn  the  rashness  with  which  some 
conclusions  have  been  openly  stated  by  others  of  the  same  school, 
and  confessedly  proceeding  on  principles  fundamentally  the  same.^ 

"  If  any  one,  therefore,  who  belongs  to  a  school  of  mystical  reserve, 
should  be  suspected,  in  consequence  of  a  remarkable  agreement  be- 
tween some  of  his  acknowledged  tenets  and  the  German  Neology, 
of  a  further  degree  of  secret  concurrence,  beyond,  perhaps,  what  he 
is  really  conscious  of,  he  must  not  wonder  at,  or  complain  of,  such 
suspicion ;  nor  expect  at  once  to  repel  it  by  the  strongest  censure 
of  those  writers,  and  professed  renunciation  of  their  doctrines; 
unless  he  can  also  make  up  his  mind  to  renounce  likewise  the  system 
of  a  '  double  doctrine '  altogether,  resolving  and  proclaiming  his  res- 
olution to  speak  henceforth '  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing 
but  the  truth,*  respecting  his  rehgious  tenets,  and  forswearing  totally 
the  practice  of  employing  language  '  in  a  peculiar  sense,'  different 
from  what  is  ordinarily  understood  by  it." —  Kin.  Ch.,  Ap.,  Note  P. 

Note  L  — Page  365. 
"  It  may  be  objected  that  the  tenor  of  the  above  explanations  is 
1  See  D  •.  West's  Ditcouise  on  Beserve. 

32 


374  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

anti-Protestant,  whereas  it  is  notorious  that  the  articles  were  drawn 
up  by  Protestants,  and  intended  for  the  establishment  of  Protes- 
tantism ;  accordingly,  that  it  is  an  evasion  of  their  meaning  to  give 
them  any  other  than  a  Protestant  drift,  possible  as  it  may  be  to  do 
so  grammatically,  and  in  each  separate  part 

"  But,  I.  It  is  a  duty  we  owe  to  the  Catholic  Church  and  to  our 
own,  to  take  our  reformed  confessions  in  the  most  cathoHc  sense 
they  will  admit 

"  V.  The  articles  are  evidently  framed  on  the  principle  of  leav- 
ing open  large  questions,  on  which  the  controversy  hinges.  They 
state  broadly  extreme  truths,  and  are  silent  about  their  adjustment. 
For  instance,  they  say  that  all  necessary  faith  must  be  proved  from 
Scripture  ;  but  do  not  say  who  is  to  prove  it 

"  They  say  that  councils  called  by  princes  may  err  :  they  do  not 
determine  whether  councils  called  in  the  name  of  Christ  will  err 

"  VI Since  both  homihes  and  articles  appeal  to  the  Fathers 

and  catholic  antiquity,  let  it  be  considered  whether,  in  interpreting 
them  by  these,  we  are  not  going  to  the  very  authority  to  which  they 
profess  to  submit  themselves,"  etc.  — Feast  of  St.  John,  Evang.,  4th 
ed.,  1841.  J.  H.  N. 

In  accordance  with  the  principles  here  laid  down  the  tract  itself 
is  composed  throughout.  See,  especially,  §  1.  On  Holy  Scripture 
and  the  Authority  of  the  Church.  §  2.  On  Justification  by  Faith. 
§  3.  Works  before  and  after  Justification.  §  4.  The  Visible  Church. 
§  5.  General  Councils.  §  6.  Purgatory,  etc.  §  7.  Sacraments.  §  8. 
Transubstantiation.     §  9.  Masses. 

On  all  these  points,  and  throughout  the  tract,  doctrines  are  main- 
tained totally  opposite  to  the  plain  sense  of  the  articles,  and  to  the 
known  design  of  their  framers.  And  the  whole  object  of  the  tract 
is,  evidently,  to  show  that  a  person  may  with  a  safe  conscience  hold 
the  doctrines  of  one  church  and  the  endowments  of  another  quite 
opposed  to  it. 

The  author  of  the  tract,  however,  did  at  length,  some  years  after, 
as  is  well  known,  openly  join  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  having,  some 
years  previously,  acknowledged  that  the  censures  he  had  been  pub- 
licly passing  on  that  church  were,  at  the  time,  not  at  all  in  accord- 
ance with  his  real  sentiments  ! 

Yet  the  public  protest  against  the  condemnation  passed  at  Oxford 
on  this  and  similar  publications  has  never  been  retracted  ! 

And  here  a  question  suggests  itself  which  all  must  allow  to  be 


ON  INFANT-BAPTISM.  375 

quite  pertinent  to  the  matter  In  hand.  Suppose  an  applicant  for 
institution  to  a  benefice^  who  should  hold  either  such  doctrines  as  the 
foregoing,  or  the  extreme  contrary  ones,  or  any  others  whatever,  to 
adopt  that  system  of  interpretation  ]\iit  alluded  to,  might  he  not  thus 
avoid  all  the  difficulties  and  contests  which  might  otherwise  be  appre- 
hended ?  He  would  only  have  to  give  to  all  Inquiries  such  answers 
as  might  be  most  satisfactory  to  the  Diocesan  ;  and  when  in  posses- 
sion of  his  living,  might  preach  the  direct  contrary  of  what  he  had 
before  said  ;  alleging  that  he  had  been  "  using  words  in  a  peculiar 
sense." 

Those  who  would  regard  such  a  procedure,  or  anything  even  re- 
motely approaching  to  it,  as  unpardonable  in  one  whose  doctrinal 
views  they  disapprove,  but  allowable  In  the  cause  of  what  they 
consider  as  orthodoxy,  —  these,  If  their  sincerity  Is  doubted  when 
they  profess  to  abhor  disingenuousness,  cannot  surely  complain  of 
uncharitable  treatment. 

Then,  again,  several  writers  on  the  opposite  side  pursue  a  similar 
plan.  One  of  these  describes  himself  as  having  "  nailed  Jiis  colors 
to  the  7nast  of  the  evangelical  party."  Of  course  his  real  meaning 
is  the  converse.  He  doubtless  means  that  it  is  not  his  colors,  but 
the  colors  of  the  evangelical  party  that  he  has  nailed,  not  to 
their  mast,  but  to  his.  The  metaphor  Is  a  common  one,  and  quite 
intelligible.  In  a  sea-fight,  a  commander  who  nails  the  flag  of  his 
country  to  the  mast  of  his  ship,  is  understood  to  have  resolved  that 
he  will  never  surrender  to  any  force  that  can  be  brought  against 
him,  but  will  suffer  his  vessel  to  be  sunk  rather  than  yield.  And  in 
a  controversy,  accordingly,  —  the  weapons  employed  being  not  bul- 
lets, but  arguments,  —  to  announce  a  corresponding  determination 
is  to  proclaim  a  resolution  not  to  yield  to  any  arguments,  but  to 
maintain  the  opinion  once  formed,  whatever  reasons,  strong  or  weak, 
may  be  adduced  against  it. 

Accordingly,  this  writer,  having  set  forth  certain  views  which  he 
regards  as  unauthorized  by  Scripture,  proceeds  to  remark,  that,  this 
being  so,  "  We  necessarily  conclude  A  pbiori,  that  they  form  no 

part  of  the  creed  of  the  Church  of  England." "  Against  this, 

however,"  he  goes  on  to  say, "  It  will  be  objected  that  the  formularies 
of  the  church  do  nevertheless  contain  some  expressions  which  seem 
to  countenance  those  doctrines,  and,  therefore,  that  either  the  doc- 
trine so  favored  Is  scriptural,  or  that  the  formulary  which  Implies  it  is 
not  scriptural.      The  question  then  is,  upon  the  assumption  that  the 


376  WHATELY'S  ESSAYS. 

said  doctrine  is  not  scriptural,  whether  our  church  be  inconsistent 
with  its  own  rule  of  faith  ?  To  which  the  answer  is  here  given  in 
the  negative.  And  the  reason  is  this,  — '  that  rule  of  faith  which  ex- 
cludes from  our  creed  all  that  is  not  scriptural,  excludes  also  from 
our  formularies  every  acceptation  which  is  not  scriptural.  And,  con- 
sequently, every  minister  of  the  Church  of  England  is  inevitably 
bound,  both  by  his  subscription  and  by  his  ordination  vow,  to  put 
such  a  construction  upon  the  icords  of  our  church  services  as  shall  be 
in  agreement  with  its  rule  of  faith." 

Now  this  is  exactly  of  a  piece  with  the  procedure  of  the  author 
of  Tract  90,  above  cited.  Our  reformers,  he  assumes,  considered 
themselves  (as  they  certainly  did)  to  be  in  agreement  with  "  catholic 
antiquity  ; "  and  then,  having  laid  down  what  —  in  his  opinion  — 
catholic  antiquity  decides,  he  proceeds  to  wrest  the  language  of  our 
reformers  into  a  conformity  with  this;  just  as  the  other  writer  forces 
their  language  into  an  agreement  with  his  view  of  Scripture. 

It  is  curious  to  observe  that  this  is,  almost  word  for  word,  the 
plea  upon  which  the  Arians  of  the  last  century  endeavored  to  justify 
themselves  in  subscribing  the  formularies  of  our  church.  Those 
formularies,  they  admitted,  contained  some  expressions  which  seemed 
to  countenance  (what  they  called)  the  vulgar  notions  about  the 
Trinity ;  but  then  "  the  Protestant  churches  require  men  to  comply 
with  their  forms  merely  on  account  of  their  being  agreeable  to 
Scripture,  and  consequently  in  such  sense  only  wherein  they  are 
agreeable  to  Scripture ;  ^ "  and  as  it  seemed  evident  to  them  (the  Ari- 
ans) that  the  Athanasian  doctrine  was  quite  repugnant  to  Scripture, 
they  " necessarily  concluded,  a  priori"  that  it  was  not,  to  them,  the 
just  meaning  of  our  formularies. 

1  See  Clarke's  Introduction  to  The  Scripture  Doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 


WARREN  F.  DRAPER, 

PUBLISHER  AND  BOOKSELLER, 

ANDOVER,  MASS., 

PUBLISHES  AWD    OFFERS    FOR    8ALB   THB    FOLLOWING,  WHICH  WILL  BB   BEKT 
POST   PAID   ON    BECEIPT    OF   THE    SUM   NAMED. 


GUEBICKE'S  CHURCH  HISTORY  (Ancient  Church;  including  the 
First  Six  Centuries).  Translated  by  William  G.  T.  Shedd,  Brown  Professor 
in  Andover  Theological  Seminary.    442  pp.  8vo.    $2.75. 

The  established  credit  of  Guericke'a  labors  in  the  department  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  and  the 
use  made  of  his  works  by  many  English  writers  will  make  this  volume  acceptable  to  a  very  large 
class  of  students  and  readers.  — iondon  Journal  qf  Sacred  Literature. 

Guericke's  History  is  characterized  by  research,  devoutness,  firm  grasp  of  evangelical  truth, 
and  careful  exhibition  of  the  practical  aa  well  as  the  Intellectual  aspects  of  Christianity.  —  IfortA 
British  Review. 

"We  regard  Professor  Shedd's  version  as  a  happy  epecimen  of  the  transfusion,  rather  than  a 
translation,  which  many  of  the  German  treatises  should  receive.  The  style  of  hie  version  is  far 
■uperior  to  that  of  the  original.  —  JBibliotfieca  Sacra. 

Among  the  most  faithful,  and  yet  the  most  independent,  of  the  followers  of  Neander,  may  be 
mentioned  Guericke,  who  carries  out  Neander's  plan  in  a  more  compendious  form,  but  with  an 
almost  bigoted  attachment  to  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  Luther,  in  a  style  so  crabbed  and  involved, 
that  we  should  not  have  hesitated  to  pronounce  it  untranslatable,  but  for  the  fact  that  an  eminent 
teacher  and  accomplished  writer  of  our  own  country  has  achieved  what  we  regarded  as  a  sheer 
impossibility.  We  are  glad  to  have  a  book  made  legible  in  English,  which,  in  spite  of  its  original 
uncouthness,  has  been  eminently  useful,  as  a  vehicle,  not  only  of  the  best  historical  knowledge, 
but  of  sincere  piety,  and  sound  religious  sentiment  in  reference  to  all  essentiali.  — Princeton 


In  clearness  the  style  of  the  translation  exceeds  the  originaL  The  natural  animation  and  life- 
like character,  which  commonly  vanish  in  the  process  of  translating  from  the  German,  have  been 
retained  with  signal  success.  We  are  disposed  to  consider  it  the  best  of  the  current  text-books 
for  the  use  for  which  Prof.  Shedd  designs  it.  —  New  Englander, 

Here  is  a  Manual  of  Church  History  which  may  be  confidently  recommended,  without  reserve 
or  qualification,  to  students  belonging  to  all  evangelical  churches.  Guericke  is  thoroughly  Or- 
thodox. His  evangelical  belief  and  feeling  give  him  a  lively  and  appreciative  interest  in  the  in- 
ternal history  of  the  Church  ;  he  devotes  special  attention  to  the  development  of  doctrines,  and 
presents  the  range  of  thought  and  substance  of  opinion  distinguishing  the  works  of  the  princi- 
pal writers  in  successive  ages  of  the  Church.  Guericke's  manual  is  complete  in  the  particular 
lines  of  history  he  has  chosen,  and  is  a  most  useful  and  reliable  book  for  the  theological  class- 
room. Professor  Shedd  has  wisely  translated  with  freedom,  and  has  improved  the  structure  of  the 
work.  —  Noncomformitt. 

We  are  glad  that  a  Manual  of  Church  History  has  appeared  which  exhibits,  at  once,  undoubted 
orthodoxy,  and  that  grasp  of  mind  which  alone  is  capable  of  treating  such  a  subject  with  a  lu- 
minous and  lively  brevity.  —  Clerical  JoumaL 

With  the  additions  and  improvements  made  in  the  successive  editions,  it  is  now,  on  the  whole, 
the  most  readable  work  on  Church  History  to  be  found.  We  have  used  the  original  for  some 
years,  and  entirely  agree  with  the  translator,  that  it  bits  the  mean  between  an  offensive  fullneM 
•ad  a  barren  epitome.  —  Central  Christian  Herald. 

(1) 


Publications  of  W.  F.  Draper^  Andover. 


DISCOUKSES  AND  ESSAYS.     By  William  G.  T.  Shedd.     324  pp 

12nio.  $1.50, 

The  striking  sincerity,  vigor,  and  learning  of  this  volume  -will  be  admired  even  by  those  read- 
ers  who  cannot  go  with  the  author  in  all  his  opinions.  Whatever  debate  the  philosophical  ten- 
dencies of  the  book  may  challenge,  its  literary  ability  and  moral  spirit  will  be  commended  every 
■where.  —  New  Englander. 

These  elaborate  articles  are  written  in  a  lucid  and  racy  style,  and  invest  with  a  rare  interest  the 
themes  of  which  they  treat.  —  Bibliotheca  Sacra. 

These  Discourses  are  all  marked  by  profound  thought,  and  perspicuity  of  sentiment. — 
Princeton  Review. 

The  Essay  on  a  Natural  Rhetoric  we  earnestly  commend  to  all  persons  who  publicly  assume 
either  to  speak  or  to  write.  —  Universalist  Quarterly, 

Few  clearer  and  more  penetrating  minds  can  be  found  in  our  country  than  that  of  Prof.  Shedd. 
If  the  mind  gets  dull,  or  dry,  or  ungovernable,  put  it  to  grappling  with  these  masterly  produc- 
tions. —  Congregational  Herald,  Chicago. 

Each  of  these  Discourses  is  profoundly  and  ingeniously  elaborated,  and  the  volume  as  a  whole 
is  a  testimony  to  highly  intellectual  and  consistent  views  of  evangelical  truth.  —  Boston  Recorder. 

LECTTJIIES   UPON    THE    PHILOSOPHY   OF  HISTORY.     By 

William  G.  T.  Shedd.    128  pp.  12mo.  75  cts. 

Professor  Shedd  has  already  achieved  a  high  reputation  for  the  union  of  philosophic  insight 
with  genuine  scholarship,  of  depth  and  clearness  of  thought  with  force  and  elegance  of  style, 
and  for  profound  views  of  sin  and  grace,  cherished  not  merely  on  theoretical,  but  still  more  on 
moral  and  experimental  grounds.  —  Princeton  Review. 

This  volume  consists  of  four  lectures,  of  which  the  following  are  the  titles:  The  Abstract  Idea 
of  History;  The  Nature  and  Definition  of  Secular  History ;  The  Nature  and  Definition  of  Church 
History;  The  Verifying  Test  in  Church  History.  It  is  written  in  a  lucid  style,  and  will  interest 
the  students  of  theology  and  of  history.  —  Bibliotheca  Sacra. 

The  style  of  these  Lectures  has  striking  merits.  The  author  chooses  his  words  with  rare  skill 
and  taste,  from  an  ample  vocabulary;  and  writes  with  strength  and  refreshing  simplicity.  The 
Philosophy  of  Realism,  in  application  to  history  and  historical  theology,  is  advocated  by  vigorous 
reasoning,  and  made  intelligible  by  original  and  felicitous  illustrations.  —  New  Englander. 

The  "  Lectures  upon  the  Philosophy  of  History,"  is  an  extraordinary  specimen  of  the  meta< 
physical  treatise,  and  the  charm  of  its  rhetoric  is  not  less  noticeable.  Prof.  Shedd  never  puts  his 
creed  under  a  bushel,  but  there  are  few  students  of  any  sect  or  class  that  will  not  derive  great  as- 
Bistance  from  his  labors.  —  Universalist  Quarterly. 

It  bears  the  impress  of  an  elegant  as  well  as  highly  philosophical  mind.  —  Boston  Recorder. 

OUTLINES  OP  A  SYSTEMATIC  RHETORIC.  From  the  German 
of  Dr.  Fkancis  Theremin,  by  William  G.  T.  Shedd.  Tliird  and  Eevised 
Edition,  with  an  Introductory  Essay  by  the  translator,   pp.  216.    12mo.  $1.00. 

Advanced  students  will  find  it  well  worthy  of  perusal.  The  adoption  of  its  leading  ideas  would 
ennoble  the  art  of  rhetoric  into  a  science,  the  practice  of  speaking  into  a  virtue,  and  would  clothe 
the  whole  subject  in  our  schools  and  colleges  with  a  fresh  and  vital  interest.  —  BibliotJteca 
Sacra. 

Every  minister  and  theological  professor  (in  composition  and  rhetoric  especially)  should  read 
it.  A  more  thorough  and  suggestive,  and,  in  the  main,  sensible  view  of  the  subject  is  hardly  to  be 
found.  The  central  idea  of  Theremin's  theory  is,  that  Eloquence  is  a  Virtue,  and  he  who  reads 
this  little  book  will  be  sure  to  receive  an  impulse  in  the  direction  of  masculine  thoughtful  diso 
eourae.  —  Congregational  Herald. 

(«) 


Publications  ofW.  F.  Draper. 


ELIilCOTT'S  COMMENTAKY,  CRITICAL  AND  GRAMMAT- 
ICAL, on  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  With  an  Introductory  Notice 
by  C.  E.  Stowe,  Professor  in  Andover  Theological  Seminary.  8vo.  pp.  183. 
SI  75. 

The  Commentaries  of  Prof.  Ellicott  supply  an  urgent  want  in  their  sphere  of  criticism.  Prof. 
Stowe  says  of  them,  in  his  Notice:  "It  is  the  crowning  excellence  of  these  Commentaries  that 
they  arc  exactly  what  they  profess  to  be,  critical  and  grammatical,  and  therefore,  in  the  best 

sense  of  the  term,  exegetical His  results  are  worthy  of  all  confidence.    He  is  more  care- 

f\il  than  Tischendorf,  slower  and  more  steadily  deliberate  than  Alford,  and  more  patiently 
laborious  than  any  other  living  New  Testament  critic,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  Tregcl- 
les." 

"  They  [ElUcott's  Commentaries]  have  set  the  first  example,  in  this  country,  [England]  of  a 
thorough  and  fearless  examination  of  the  grammatical  and  philological  requirements  of  every 
word  of  the  sacred  text.  I  do  not  know  of  anything  superior  to  them,  in  their  own  particular 
line,  in  Germany;  and  they  add,  what,  alas  I  is  so  seldom  found  in  that  country,  profound 
reverence  for  the  matter  and  subjects  on  which  the  author  is  laboring;  nor  is  their  value 
lessened  by  Mr.  Ellicott's  having  confined  himself  for  the  most  part  to  one  department  of  a 
commentator's  work  —  the  grammatical  and  philological."  —  Dean  Alford. 

"  The  critical  part  is  devoted  to  the  settling  of  the  text,  and  this  is  admirably  done,  with  a 
labor,  skill,  and  conscientiousness  unsurpassed."  — ^i&.  Sacra. 

"  We  have  never  met  with  a  learned  commentary  on  any  book  of  the  New  Testament  so 
nearly  perfect  in  every  respect  as  the  *  Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,'  by  Prof. 
Ellicott,  of  King's  College,  London,  —  learned,  devout,  and  orthodox."  —  Independent. 

"  We  would  recommend  all  scholars  of  the  original  Scriptures  who  seek  directness,  luminous 
brevity,  the  absence  of  everything  irrelevant  to  strict  grammatical  inquiry,  with  a  concise  and 
yet  very  complete  view  of  the  opinions  of  others,  to  possess  themselves  of  Ellicott's  Commen- 
taries." —  American  Presbyterian. 

COMMENTARY  ON  EPHESIANS.    8vo.    pp.  190.    $.175. 
COMMENTARY  ON  THESSALONIANS.    Bvo.    pp.  171.    $1.75. 
COMMENTARY  ON  THE  PASTORAL  EPISTLES.    Svo.    $2.50. 
COMMENTARY   ON    PHILIPPIANS,    COLOSSIANS,    AND 
PHILEMON.    $2.50. 

HENDERSON  ON  THE  MINOR  PROPHETS.  THE  BOOK 
OF  THE  TWELVE  MINOR  PROPHETS.  Translated  from  the  Original 
Hebrew.  With  a  Commentary,  Critical,  Philological,  and  Exegetical.  By 
E.  Henderson,  D.D.  With  a  Biographical  Sketch  of  the  Author,  by  E.  P. 
Barrows,  Hitchcock  Professor  in  Andover  Theological  Seminary.  Svo. 
pp.  490.     $  4.00. 

"  This  Commentary  on  the  Minor  Prophets,  like  that  on  the  Prophecy  of  Isaiah,  haa  been 
highly  and  deservedly  esteemed  by  professional  scholars,  and  has  been  of  great  service  to  the 
working  ministry.  We  are  happy  to  welcome  it  in  an  American  edition,  very  neatly  printed." 
—  Bib.  Sacra. 

"  Clergymen  and  other  students  of  the  Bible  will  be  glad  to  see  this  handsome  American 
edition  of  a  work  which  has  a  standard  reputation  in  its  department,  and  which  fills  a  place 
that  is  filled,  so  far  as  we  know,  by  no  other  single  volume  in  the  English  language.  Dr.  Hen- 
derson was  a  good  Hebrew  and  Biblical  scholar,  and  in  his  Commentaries  he  is  intelligent, 
brief,  and  to  the  poiat."  —  Boston  Recorder. 

"The  American  publisher  issues  this  valuable  work  with  the  consent  and  approbation  of  the 
author,  obtained  from  himself  before  his  death.  It  is  published  in  substantial  and  elegant  style, 
clear  white  paper  and  beautiful  type.  The  work  is  invaluable  for  its  philological  research  and 
critical  acumen.  The  notes  are  learned,  reliable,  and  practical,  and  the  volume  deserves  a 
place  in  every  theological  student's  library."  —  ^me»icnn  Presbyterian,  etc. 

"  Of  all  his  Commentaries  none  are  more  popular  than  his  Book  of  the  Minor  Propheta."  — 
Christian  Observer. 

"  This  is  probably  the  best  Commentary  extant  on  the  Minor  Prophets.  The  work  ia  worthy 
of  a  place  in  the  library  of  every  scholar  and  every  diligent  and  earnest  reader  of  the  Bible."  — 
Christian  Chronicle. 

"  We  have  met  with  no  so  satisfactory  a  commentaiy  on  this  part  of  the  prophetic  Scrip- 
tures."— Watchman  Sf  Reflector, 

C8) 


Publications  ofW.F.  Draper. 


COMMENTAKT  OW  THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE  KOMANS.    By 

M0SE8  Stuart,  late  Professor  of  Sacred  Literature  in  the  Theological 

Seminary  at  Andover.    Third  Edition.    Edited  and  revised  by  Prop.  R.  D. 

C.  RoBBiNS.    12mo.    pp.  544.    $2.25. 

"  His  Commentary  on  the  Romans  is  the  most  elaborate  of  all  his  works.  It  has  elicited  more 
discussion  than  any  of  his  other  exegetical  volumes.  It  is  the  result  of  long  continued,  patient 
thought.  It  expresses,  in  clear  style,  his  maturest  conclusions.  It  has  the  animating  influence 
of  an  original  treatise,  written  on  a  novel  plan,  and  under  a  sense  of  personal  responsibility. 
Regarding  it  in  all  its  relations,  its  antecedents  and  consequents,  we  pronounce  it  the  most 
important  Commentary  which  has  appeared  in  this  country  on  this  Epistle."— -Bift.  Sacra. 

"  We  heartily  commend  this  work  to  all  students  of  the  Bible.  The  production  of  one  of  the 
first  Biblical  scholars  of  our  age,  on  the  most  important  of  all  the  doctrinal  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  it  deserves  the  careful  study,  not  only  of  those  who  agree  with  Prof.  Stuart  in  his 
theological  and  exegetical  principles,  but  of  those  who  earnestly  dissent  from  some  of  hia 
views  in  both  respects."  —  Watchman  and  Reflector. 

"  This  contribution  by  Prof.  Stuart  has  justly  taken  a  high  place  among  the  Commentaries 
on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  and,  with  his  other  works,  will  always  be  held  in  high  estimation 
by  the  student  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures."  — -A^ew;  York  Observer, 

COMMEWTAKY   ON   THE   EPISTLE   TO   THE    HEBREWS. 

By  Prof.  M.  Stuart.   Third  Edition.  Edited  and  revised  by  Prof.  R.  D.  C. 

RoBBiNS.    12mo.    pp.  675.    $2.25. 

"  It  is  a  rich  treasure  for  the  student  of  the  original.  As  a  commentator,  Prof.  Stuart  was 
especially  arduous  and  faithful  in  following  up  the  thought  and  displaying  the  connection  of  a 
passage,  and  his  work  as  a  scholar  will  bear  comparison  with  any  that  have  since  appeared  on 
either  side  of  the  Atlantic."  —  American  Presbyterian. 

"  This  Commentary  is  classical,  both  as  to  its  literary  and  its  theological  merits.  The  edition 
before  us  is  very  skilfully  edited,  by  Professor  Bobbins,  and  gives  in  full  Dr.  Stuart's  text,  with 
additions  bringing  it  down  to  the  present  day."  —  Episcopal  Recorder. 

"  We  have  always  regarded  this  excellent  Commentary  as  the  happiest  effort  of  the  late 
Andover  Professor.  It  seems  to  us  well-nigh  to  exhaust  the  subjects  which  the  author  compre- 
hended in  his  plan."  —  Boston  Recorder. 

"  It  is  from  the  mind  and  heart  of  an  eminent  Biblical  scholar,  whose  labors  in  the  cause  of 
sacred  learning  will  not  soon  be  forgotten."  —  Christian  Observer. 

COMMEWTARY   ON   THE  BOOK  OF  PROVERBS.     By  Pkof. 

M.  Stuart.    12mo.    pp.432.    $1.75. 

"  This  is  the  last  work  from  the  pen  of  Prof.  Stuart  Both  this  Commentary  and  the  one 
preceding  it,  on  Eccleslastes,  exhibit  a  mellowness  of  spirit  which  savors  of  the  good  man  ripen- 
ing for  heaven;  and  the  style  is  more  condensed,  and,  in  that  respect,  more  agreeable,  than  in 
some  of  the  works  which  were  written  in  the  unabated  freshness  and  exuberant  vigor  of  his 
mind.  In  learning  and  critical  acumen  they  are  equal  to  his  former  works.  No  English 
reader,  we  venture  to  say,  can  elsewhere  find  so  complete  a  philological  exposition  of  these  two 
important  books  of  the  Old  Testament."  —  Bib.  Sacra. 

COMMENTARY  ON  ECCLESIASTES.  By  Moses  Stuart,  late 
Professor  of  Sacred  Literature  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover. 
Second  Edition.  Edited  and  revised  by  R.  B.  C.  Robbins,  Professor  in  Mid- 
dlebury  College.    12mo.  $1.50. 

The  Introduction  discusses  the  general  nature  of  the  book;  its  special  design  and  method, 
diction,  authority,  credit,  and  general  history;  ancient  and  modem  versions,  and  commentaries. 
The  Commentary  is  strictly  and  minutely  exegetical. 

STUART'S  MISCELLANIES,    pp.  369.    12mo.  $1.00. 

Contents.  — I.  Letters  to  Dr.  Channing  on  the  Trinity.  — II.  Two  Sermons  on  the  Atone- 
ment.—III.  Sacramental  Sermon  on  the  Lamb  of  God.  — IV.  Dedication  Sermon.  — Real 
Christianity.  —  V.  Letter  to  Dr.  Channing  on  Religious  Liberty.  —  VI.  Supplementary  Notes 
and  Postscripts. 

STUART'S  GREEK  GRAMMAR  OF  THE  NEW  TESTA- 
MENT DIALECT.    Second  Edition.    Corrected  and  rewritten.   8vo.    $1.00 

BTUART'S  HEBREW  CHRESTOMATHY.  Designed  as  an  Intro- 
duction to  a  course  of  Hebrew  Study.  Third  Edition,  8vo.  pp.23L  $1.00. 

C4> 


Publications  ofW.F.  Draper. 


WORKS  OF  LEOWAED  "WOODS,  D.  D.    5  vols.    8vo.    $12.00. 

Vols.  I.,  II.  and  III.,  Lectures.  —  Vol.  IV.,  Letters  and  Essays.  —  Vol.  V.  Essays  and  Ser- 
mons.   A  new  Edition,  on  superior  paper. 

WORKS  OF  JESSE  APPIjETON,  D.  D.,  late  President  of  Bowdoin 
College,  embracing  his  Course  of  Theological  Lectures,  his  Academic  Ad- 
dresses, and  a  selection  from  his  Sermons,  with  a  Memoir  of  his  Life  and 
Character.    2  Vols.    8vo.    $3.00. 

"They  will  ever  form  standard  volumes  in  American  Theological  Literature."— .Bib^tcoi 
Repository,  1837,  p.  249. 

AXJQTJSTINTSM  AND  PELAGIANTSM.  By  G.  F.  Wiggers,  D.  D. 
Translated  from  the  German,  by  Professor  R.  Emerson,  D.D.  pp.383. 
8vo.    $150. 

CODEX  VATICAMTTS.  H  KAINH  AIAGHKH.  Novum  Testamentura 
Graece,  ex  antiquissimo  Codice  Vaticano  edidit  Angelus  Mains,  S.  R.  E. 
Card.    8vo.    $3.00. 

Professor  Tischendorf  and  Dr.  Tregelles  ascribe  its  date  as  early  as  to  the  middle  of  the 
fourth  century.  It  has  generally  been  held  to  be  the  most  venerable  manuscript  of  the  New 
Testament.  It  has  been  guarded  with  great  vigilance  by  the  authorities  of  the  Vatican.  A 
thorough  collation,  even,  has  never  before  been  permitted,  though  often  sought.  The  present 
work  is  an  exact  reprint. 

WRITINGS  OF  PROFESSOR  B.  B.  EDWARDS.   With  a  Memoir 

by  Prof.  Edwards  A.  Park.    2  vols.    12mo.    $2.60. 

These  works  consist  of  seven  Sermons,  sixteen  Essays,  Addresses  and  Lectures,  and  a 
Memoir  by  Professor  Park. 

ERSKINE    ON    THE    INTERNAL    EVIDENCE    FOR    THE 

TRUTH  OF  REVEALED  RELIGION.    Third  American,  from  the  Fifth 

Edinburgh  Edition,    pp.  139.    16mo.    75  cts. 

"  The  entire  treatise  cannot  fail  to  commend  the  positions  which  it  advocates  to  intelligent 
and  considerate  minds.  It  is  one  of  the  best,  perhaps  the  best,  of  all  the  discussions  of  this 
momentous  subject."—  Congregationalist. 

"  This  argument  of  Erskine  for  the  Internal  Evidence  of  the  Truth  of  Revealed  Religion,  is 
the  most  compact,  natural,  and  convincing  we  have  ever  read  from  any  author."  —  Chris.  Chron. 

"No  man  ought  to  consider  himself  as  having  studied  theology  unless  he  has  read,  and  pon- 
dered, and  read  again,  •  Erskine  on  the  Internal  Evidence.'"  —  inc/ependen<. 

PLUTARCHUS  DE  SERA  NUMINIS  VINDICTA.  Plutarch  on  the 
Delay  of  the  Deity  in  the  Punishment  of  the  Wicked.  With  Notes  by  H.  B. 
Hackett,  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  in  Newton  Theological  Institution, 
pp.  172.    12mo.    60  cents. 

[See  a  review  of  this  work  in  Bib.  Sacra,  p.  609, 1856.] 

PUNCHARD'S  VIEW  OF  CONGREGATION ALISM,  its  Principles 
and  Doctrines,  the  Testimony  of  Ecclesiastical  History  in  its  favor,  its  Prac- 
tice and  its  advantages.  With  an  Introductory  Essay  by  R.  S-  Storrs,  D.  D. 
Second  edition.    16mo.    pp.  331.    38  cents. 

HISTORICAL    DEVELOPMENT    OF    SPECULATIVE    PHI- 
LOSOPHY FROM  KANT  TO  HEGEL.    From  the  German  of  Dr.  H.  M. 
Chalybaetts.    With  an  Introductory  Note  by  Sir  William  Hamilton. 
pp.413.    12mo.    $1.25. 
"  One  of  the  best  of  the  many  Introductions  which  have  been  prepared  to  lend  the  inquirer  to 

a  knowledge  of  the  recent  speculative  philosophy."  —  Bib.  Sacra. 

"  Those  who  are  in  search  of  knowledge  on  this  perplexed  subject,  without  having  time  to 

investigate  the  original  sources  for  information,  will  receive  great  assistance  from  this  careful, 

thorough,  and  perspicuous  anfdyew."  —  Biblical  Repertory,  and  Princeton  Review. 


Publications  ofW.  F.  Draper^  Andover. 


THEOLOGIA  GEKMANICA.    Which  setteth  forth  many  fair  lineaments 
of  Divine  Truth,  and  saith  very  lofty  and  lovely  things  touching  a  Perfect  Life. 
Edited  by  Dr.  Pfkiffer,  from  the  only  complete  manuscript  yet  known. 
Translated  from  the  German  by  Susanna  Winkworth.    With  a  Preface  by 
the  Rev.  Charles  Kingsley,  Rector  of  Eversley ;  and  a  Letter  to  the  Trans- 
lator, by  the  Chevalier  Bunsen,  D.  D.,  D.  C.  L.,  etc. ;  and  an  Introduction 
by  Prof.  Calvin  E.  Stowe,  D.  D.    275  pp.    16rao.  Cloth,  S1.50. 
This  treatise  was  discovered  by  Luther,  who  first  brought  it  into  notice  by  an  edition  which 
he  published  in  1516,  of  which  he  says  :  "  And  I  will  say,  though  it  be  boasting  of  myself,  and 
'  I  speak  as  a  fool,'  that,  next  to  the  Bible  and  St.  Augustine,  no  book  hath  ever  come  into  my 
hands  whence  I  have  learnt,  or  would  wish  to  learn,  more  of  what  God  and  Christ,  and  man, 
and  all  things,  are." 

*'  The  times  and  the  circumstances  in  which  this  most  rich,  thoughtful,  and  spiritually 
quickening  little  treatise  was  produced,  —  the  national  and  ecclesiastical  tendencies  and  influ- 
ences which  invested  its  author,  and  which  gave  tone,  direction,  and  pressure  to  his  thoughts, 
—  are  amply  and  well  set  forth  in  the  preface  by  Miss  Winkworth,  and  the  letter  of  Bunsen. 
The  treatise  itself  is  richly  deserving  of  the  eulogies  upon  it  so  emphatically  and  affectionately 
uttered  by  Prof.  Stowe  and  Mr.  Kingsley,  and,  long  before  them,  by  Luther,  who  said  that  it 
had  profited  him  '  more  than  any  other  book,  save  only  the  Bible  and  the  works  of  Augustine.' 
Sin,  as  a  universal  disease  and  defilement  of  the  nature  of  man  ;  Christ,  as  an  indwelling  life, 
light,  and  heavenly  power  ;  Holiness,  as  the  utmost  good  for  the  soul ;  and  Heaven,  as  the 
etate  or  place  of  the  consummation  of  this  holiness,  with  the  consequent  vision  of  God,  and 
the  ineffable  joy  and  peace,—  these  are  the  theme  of  the  book.  And  it  has  the  grand,  and  in 
this  day  the  so  rare  and  almost  singular  merit,  of  having  been  prompted  by  a  real  and  deep  relig- 
ious experience,  and  of  having  been  written,  not  with  outward  assistance,  but  with  the  enthu- 
siasm, the  spiritual  wisdom,  and  the  immense  inward  freedom  and  energy,  of  a  eoul  itself  con- 
Bcious  of  union  with  Christ,  and  exulting  in  the  sense  of  being  made,  through  him, '  a  partaker 
of  the  Divine  nature.' 

"  Those  who  have  known  the  most  of  Christ  will  value  most  this  "  golden  treatise."  Those 
whose  experience  of  the  divine  truth  has  been  deepest  and  most  central  will  find  the  most  in 
it  to  instruct  and  to  quicken  them.  To  such  it  will  be  an  invaluable  volume  worth  thousanda 
upon  thousands  of  modern  scientific  or  hortatory  essays  upon  "  Religion  made  easy." 

"  It  is  printed  by  Mr,  Draper,  at  the  Andover  press,  in  the  old  English  style,  with  beautiful 
carefulness  and  skill,  and  is  sent,  post  paid,  to  all  who  remit  him  one  dollar." —  Independent. 
"  The  work  is  at  once  a  literary  curiosity  and  a  theological  gem."  —  Puritan  Recorder. 
"  This  little  volume,  which  is  brought  out  in  antique  type,  is,  apart  from  its  intrinsic  value,  a 
curiosity  of  literature.    It  may  be  regarded  as  the  harbinger  of  the  Protestant  Eefonnation."  — 
Evening  Traveller. 

THE    CONFESSIONS    OP    ST.   AUGUSTINE.     Edited,  with  an 

Introduction,  by  Prof.  W.  G.  T.  Shedd.     $L50. 

"In  this  beautiful  edition  of  Augustine's  Confessions,  published  in  the  antique  etyle,  the 
translation  has  been  carefully  revised  by  Prof.  Shedd,  of  Andover,  from  a  comparison  with  the 
Latin  text.  His  Introduction  presents  a  fine  analysis  of  Augustine's  religious  experience  in  its 
bearing  upon  his  theological  system.  Both  the  intellect  and  the  heart  of  the  modern  preacher 
maybe  refreshed  and  stimulated  by  the  frequent  perusal  of  these  confessions."  — /nctependenf. 

"  Prof.  Shedd  has  earned  our  heartfelt  thanks  for  this  elegant  edition  of  Augustine's  Confes- 
sions. The  book  is  profitable  for  the  Christian  to  study,  and  we  would  commend  it  as  a  daily 
companion  in  the  closet  of  the  intelligent  believer  who  desires  to  be  taught  the  way  to  holiness 
through  communion  of  the  Spirit.  Prof.  Shedd's  Introduction  is  a  masterly  essay,  which  itself 
is  a  volume  for  attentive  reading.  It  ought  to  be  read  before  the  book  is  begun.  Thorough, 
searching,  and  discriminating  beyond  the  facts  it  communicatee,  its  instructions  and  hints  are 
suggestive  and  invaluable."  — JT.  Y.  Observer. 

"  This  is  a  beautiful  edition  of  a  precious  work.  The  Confessions  of  Augustine  are  so  honest, 
that  we  easily  become  enthusiastic  in  their  praise.  The  depth  of  his  piety,  the  boldness  of  his 
imagination,  the  profoundness  of  his  genius,  his  extravagant  conceptions,  his  very  straining  and 
stretching  of  philosophical  and  biblical  statements,  have  all  a  certain  charm  which  ensurear  for 
his  works  an  enduring  popularity."— J5t5.  Sacra,  1860,  p.  671. 

"  We  have  long  wanted  to  see  just  such  an  edition  of  Augustine's  Confessions.  The  editor 
has  done  a  public  service  in  introducing  it ;  and  its  typographical  beauty  is  no  small  recom- 
mendation of  it."  —  Presbyterian,  June  23, 1860.  ,  _  ^ 

(®) 


Publications  ofW.F.  Draper. 


MESSIANIC    PROPHECY    AND    THE    LIFE    OF    CHRIST. 

By  Rev.  W.  S.  Kennedy.    12mo.    pp.484.    $1.25. 

"  The  plan  of  the  author  is  to  collect  all  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  referring  to  the 
Messiah,  with  appropriate  comments  and  reflections,  and  then  to  pursue  the  subject  through 
the  New  Testament  in  tlie  life  of  Christ  as  he  appeared  among  men.  The  reader  will  find  the 
results  of  Hengetenbergand  Neander  here  gathered  up,  and  presented  in  a  readable  shape."  — 
The  Presbyterian. 

"  This  is  a  work  of  great  comprehensiveness.  Here,  in  th|  compass  of  less  than  five  hundred 
duodecimo  pages,  we  have  the  Christology  of  the  Old  ana  New  Testament  Scriptures,  some- 
thing like  a  combination  of  the  Christology  of  Hengstenberg  and  Neander's  Life  of  Christ.  Of 
course  the  fulness  of  these  great  works  is  not  imitated,  but  the  reader  will  find  the  results  of 
these  and  similar  investigations  carefully  gathered  up,  and  presented  in  a  cjear,  readable  shape. 
The  Life  of  Christ  is  based  upon  Robinson's  Harmony  of  the  Gospels."  — American  Presbyterian. 

SCHAtJPFLER'S  MEDITATIONS  ON  THE  LAST  DAYS  OF 

CHRIST.    12mo.    pp.439.    $1.25. 

The  first  sixteen  chapters  of  the  book  consist  of  Meditations  on  the  last  days  of  Christ, 
preached  in  the  midst  of  plague  and  death,  by  Rev.  Mr.  SchaufBer,  at  Constantinople;  the  second 
part,  of  eight  sermons  on  the  17th  chapter  of  John,  and  is  a  practical  exposition  of  that  chapter. 

BIBLE    HISTORY    OF    PRAYER.     By  C.  A.  Goodrich.     12mo. 

pp.384.    $1.25. 

The  aim  of  this  little  volume  is  to  embody  an  account  of  the  delightful  and  successful  inter- 
course of  believers  with  heaven  for  some  four  thousand  years.  The  author  has  indulged  a 
good  deal  in  narrative,  opening  and  explaining  the  circumstances  which  gave  birth  to  the 
several  prayers. 

MONOD'S  DISCOURSES  ON  THE  LIFE  OF  ST.  PAUL. 
Translated  from  the  French,  by  Rev.  J.  H.  Myers,  D.D.    12mo.    pp.  191, 

90cts. 

"  The  aim  of  the  author  is  to  present  an  estimate  of  the  character,  labors,  and  writings  of  the 
apostle  Paul  in  the  light  of  an  example,  and  to  apply  the  principles  which  actuated  him,  and 
which  he  maintained,  to  Christians  of  the  present  day."  —  Boston  Journal. 

"These  Discourses  are  distinguished  for  genuine  eloquence,  thorough  research,  and  pro- 
found thought,  accompanied  with  a  glowing,  earnest  spirit,  adapting  the  lessons  of  the  great 
Apostle  to  the  spiritual  wants  of  men."—  Christian  Observer. 

HYMNS  AND  CHOIRS:  OR,  THE  MATTER  AND  THE  MAN- 
NER OF  THE  SERVICE  OF  SONG  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  LORD. 
By  Austin  Phelps,  and  Edwards  A.  Park,  Professors  at  Andover,  and 
Daniel  L.  FURBER,  Pastor  at  Newton.    12mo.    pp.425.    $150. 

This  volume  describes  the  true  design  and  character  of  Hymns;  it  comments  on  their  rhetor- 
ical structure  and  style;  points  out  the  proper  method  of  uttering  them  in  public  worship;  and 
the  most  important  principles  and  rules  for  congregational  singing. 

SELECT  SERMONS  OF  REV.  -WORTHINGTON  SMITH.  D.  D. 
With  a  Memoir  of  his  Life,  by  Rev.  Joseph  Torrky,  D.  D.,  Professor  in 
Burhngton  College.    12mo.    pp.  380.    $1.25. 

"  This  is  a  memorial  volume  of  Dr.  Smith,  late  President  of  the  Vermont  University,  and 
was  prepared  at  the  request  of  many  of  his  friends.  An  interesting  Memoir  of  his  Life,  edited 
by  Rev.  Joseph  Torrey,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Intellectual  and  Moral  Philosophy,  introduces  the 
Sermons.  Dr.  Smith  was  a  native  of  Hadley,  Mass.,  and  was  for  many  years  pastor  over  a 
religious  society  in  St.  Albans,  Vermont.  For  six  years  he  officiated  as  President  of  the  Ver- 
mont University  at  Burlington,  which  office  he  resigned  in  consequence  of  ill  health,  and  died 
a  few  months  afterward.  The  Memoir  is  followed  by  sixteen  Sermons  on  various  subjects."  — 
Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 

THE  DEBATE  BET'WEEN  THE  CHURCH  AND  SCIENCE; 

or,  The  Ancient  Hebraic  Idea  of  the  Six  Days  of  Creation.    With  an  Essay  ou 
the  Literary  Character  of  Tayleb  Lewis.    12mo.    pp.  437.    $  1.25. 


Publications  ofW.F.  Draper. 


DODERLEIN'S     HAND-BOOK    OP    LATIN    SYNOKTrMES. 

Translated  by  Rev.  H.  H.  Arnold,  B.  A.,  with  an  Introduction  by  S.  H. 
Taylor,  LL.  D.  New  Edition,  with  an  Index  of  Greek  words.  16mo.  pp. 
267.  1.25. 

"  The  present  hand-book  of  Doderlein  is  remarkable  for  the  brevity,  distinctness,  perspicuity, 
and  appositeness  of  its  definitions.  It  will  richly  reward  not  merely  the  classical,  but  the  gen- 
eral student,  for  the  labor  he  may  devote  to  it.    It  is  difficult  to  open  the  volume,  even  at  random, 

without  discovering  some  hint  which  may  be  useful  to  a  theologian From  the  preceding 

extracts,  it  will  be  seen  that  this  hand-l>ook  is  useful  in  elucidating  many  Greek  aa  well  as  Latin 
eynonymes."  —  jBi&.  Sacra. 

"  The  little  volume  mentioned  above,  introduced  to  the  American  public  by  an  eminent 
Scholar  and  Teacher,  Samuel  H.  Taylor,  LL.  D.,  is  one  of  the  best  helps  to  the  thorough  appre- 
ciation of  the  nice  shades  of  meaning  in  Latin  words  that  have  met  my  eye.  It  deserves  the 
attention  of  teachers  and  learners,  and  will  amply  reward  patient  study."  — £.  D.  Sanborn,  late 
Professor  of  Latin  in  Dartmouth  College. 

"  The  study  of  it  will  conduce  much  to  thorough  and  accurate  knowledge  of  the  old  Roman 
tongue.  To  the  present  edition  is  appended  an  'Index  of  Greek  words,'  which  embraces  all 
the  Greek  words  contained  in  the  Latin  Synonymes,  and  affords  valuable  aid  in  the  elucidation 
of  Greek  Synonymes."  — Boston  Recorder, 

POIiITICAIi  ECONOMY.  Designed  as  a  Text-Book  for  Colleges.  By 
John   Bascom,  A.  M.,    Professor   in  Williams  College.    12mo.    pp.  866. 

SL50. 

"  It  goes  over  the  whole  ground  in  a  logical  order.  The  matter  is  perspicuously  arranged 
under  distinct  chapters  and  sections;  it  is  a  compendious  exhibition  of  the  principles  of  the 
science  without  prolonged  disquisitions  on  particular  points,  and  it  is  printed  in  the  style  for 
which  the  Andover  Press  has  long  been  deservedly  celebrated."  —  Princeton  Review. 

"  This  work  is  one  of  value  to  the  student.  It  treats  of  the  relations  and  character  of  political 
economy,  its  advantages  as  a  study,  and  its  history.  Almost  every  subject  in  the  range  of  the 
science  is  here  touched  upon  and  examined  in  a  manner  calculated  to  interest  and  instruct  the 
reader."  —  Amherst  Express. 

"  The  book  is  worthy  a  careful  study,  both  for  the  views  it  contains  and  as  a  mental  training. 
The  author  understands  himself,  and  bus  evidently  studied  his  subject  well.  The  style  in  which 
it  is  put  forth  also  commends  it  to  the  reading  community."—  Evening  Express. 

"  This  is  a  valuable  work  upon  a  subject  of  much  interest.  Professor  Bascom  writes  well, 
and  his  book  makes  an  excellent  manual.  His  stand-point  in  the  middle  of  the  19th  century 
gives  it  a  character  quite  unlike  that  of  the  older  works  upon  the  subject."- .Soston  Recorder. 

RUSSELL'S  PULPIT  ELOCUTION.  Comprising  Remarks  on  the 
Effect  of  Manner  in  public  Discourse ;  the  Elements  of  Elocution  applied  to 
the  Reading  of  the  Scriptures,  Hymns  and  Sermons ;  with  Observations  on 
the  Principles  of  Gesture;  and  a  Selection  of  Exercises  in  Reading  and 
Speaking.  With  an  Introduction  by  Prop.  E.  A.  Park  and  Rev.  E.  N. 
Kirk.    413  pp.    12mo.    Second  Edition.    $L50. 

"  Mr.  Russell  is  known  as  one  of  the  masters  of  elocutionary  science  in  the  United  States. 
He  has  labored  long,  skilfully,  and  successfully  in  that  most  interesting  field,  and  has  acquired 
an  honored  name  among  the  teachers  and  writers  upon  rhetoric.  It  is  one  of  the  most  thorough 
publications  upon  the  subject,  and  is  admirably  addressed  to  the  correction  of  the  various 
defects  which  diminish  the  influence  of  pulpit  discourses.  It  is  already  an  established  authority 
in  many  places."  —  Literary  World. 

HISTORICAL  MANUAL  OP  THE  SOUTH  CHURCH  IN  AN- 
DOVER, MASS.     Compiled  by  Rev.  George  Mooar;  with  a  portrait  of 
Rev.  Samuel  Phillips,  first  Pastor  of  the  Church.    12mo.    pp  200.    « 1.25. 
"  This  manual  has  a  value  far  beyond  the  promise  made  in  its  title-page.    Henceforth,  what- 
ever may  befall  the  records  of  the  South  Church  in  Andover,  or  even  the  Church  itself,— 
though  both  were  blotted  from  the  earth,  —  its  history  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  is  safe.    And 
in  that  history  is  embraced  an  amount  of  instruction  rarely  condensed  into  so  small  a  space. 
The  catalogue  of  members,  numbering  2,177,  indicates  the  date  and  manner  of  admission  — 
whether  by  profession  or  letter;  the  date  and  manner  of  removal  —  whether  by  death,  dismis- 
sion, or  excommunication:  generally  the  age  of  the  deceased,  and,  if  females  who  married 
during  their  membership,  the  aames  of  their  husbands."  —  Congregational  Quarterli/. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Libraries 


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